Climate Ready Boston: Proactive Planning for

Future Climate Impacts

Challenge: How to get Bostonians

to invest in flood control before a

disaster?

City was already engaged in climate

mitigation

Superstorm Sandy

Lower Manhattan

Breezy Point

Boston’s Waterfront,

October 29, 2012

“If Sandy had peaked only 5½ hours earlier, we would have had a

‘100-year flood’”

“Luck is not a good planning strategy”

Key Lessons• Don’t waste a crisis.• Build on existing institutions

and policy initiatives.

Preparing ForThe Rising Tide

• Released February 2013 with then-Mayor Menino who vowed to act before the next big one.

• Maps Boston’s vulnerability to coastal flooding at future sea levels.

• Provides case studies of neighborhood-level vulnerability assessments.

Today’s High

Tide + 2.5 ft.

Could flood nearly 7% of Boston

Current100-Year

Flood

Annual Flood

by 2050

Daily HighTide by 2100

Today’s High Tide + 5.0

ft.

Could Flood Over

30%of Boston

100-Year Flood

around 2050

Annual Flood by

2100

Today’s High Tide + 7.5

ft.

Key Lessons• Today’s 100-year flood could

be 2050’s annual flood and 2100’s high tide.

• Identify vulnerabilities and how to minimize risk of harm.

• We have time, but we have a lot to do. We need to start soon.

Key Lessons• Sea level rise is a real concern

in Boston.• There are existing design

solutions.• The results can be beautiful.

Key Lessons• Many cities are successfully

using “Living with Water” beautiful, flood-resilient designs.

• We don’t always have to keep water out.

• Make every dollar count twice by addressing other urban goals while decreasing flood risks.

International Design Competition

Boston Living With Water Design Competition

• Launched at ABX• Applied research to real places• 50 entries by 342 participants

from seven countries• Included multiple free forums• Collaborative competition• www.BostonLivingwithWater.org

Sandy Second Anniversary

Decision Maker Participation

Community Engagement

Learning by Doing

Infrastructure Planning

Sea Level Rise 101

Big Ideas Mashup

Awards and Publication

Key Lessons• We need district-wide

solutions.• Involve community leaders

early in design.• We will need both resilient

and resistant solutions.• Now we need to

institutionalize what we’ve learned.

Next up: Climate Ready

Boston