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Sustained and Equitable Access to Rhode Island’s Coast in a Changing Climate (SEA-C)
Citation:
Vinhateiro, N., S. Schechter, C. Weitman, E. Uchida, AND N. Merrill. Sustained and Equitable Access to Rhode Island’s Coast in a Changing Climate (SEA-C). 2023 ASBPA National Coastal Conference, Providence, RI, October 10 - 13, 2023.
Impact/Purpose:
Cities and towns in Rhode Island (RI) face increasing and uncertain risks from climate change, including compounding effects from sea level rise, coastal storms, and intense precipitation events. This is particularly true for Bristol County, which abuts Narragansett Bay and is among the most flood-vulnerable areas of the state due to its geography and low-lying elevation. The three towns in Bristol County all experience regular “nuisance” flooding during perigean spring tides and minor storms, and high-resolution modeling indicates that 25% of all structures in the county are susceptible to flooding during a 100-year coastal storm. Incidentally, all three communities also have dozens of well-marked and maintained coastal access points, which enable the public to reach Narragansett Bay and adjacent tidal coves. These sites include narrow footpaths, boat ramps, public beaches and parks, fishing piers, and monumented rights-of-way to the shore. To better understand how future climate change may limit access to coastal public spaces and the user groups most impacted by these changes, the University of Rhode Island (URI) Coastal Institute has launched a new initiative – Sustained and Equitable Access to Rhode Island’s Coast in a Changing Climate (SEA-C).The project is a collaboration between coastal researchers at URI, municipal leaders in Bristol County, and community stakeholders and aims to identify potential barriers to meaningful coastal access through the implementation of a series of pilot studies in Bristol County
Description:
Sustained and Equitable Access to Rhode Island’s Coast in a Changing Climate Cities and towns in Rhode Island (RI) face increasing and uncertain risks from climate change, including compounding effects from sea level rise, coastal storms, and intense precipitation events. This is particularly true for Bristol County, which abuts Narragansett Bay and is among the most flood-vulnerable areas of the state due to its geography and low-lying elevation. The three towns in Bristol County all experience regular “nuisance” flooding during perigean spring tides and minor storms, and high-resolution modeling indicates that 25% of all structures in the county are susceptible to flooding during a 100-year coastal storm. Incidentally, all three communities also have dozens of well-marked and maintained coastal access points, which enable the public to reach Narragansett Bay and adjacent tidal coves. These sites include narrow footpaths, boat ramps, public beaches and parks, fishing piers, and monumented rights-of-way to the shore. To better understand how future climate change may limit access to coastal public spaces and the user groups most impacted by these changes, the University of Rhode Island (URI) Coastal Institute has launched a new initiative – Sustained and Equitable Access to Rhode Island’s Coast in a Changing Climate (SEA-C). The project is a collaboration between coastal researchers at URI, municipal leaders in Bristol County, and community stakeholders and aims to identify potential barriers to meaningful coastal access through the implementation of a series of pilot studies in Bristol County that investigate: coastal resources that are threatened or may be lost due to climate change impacts by coupling future sea level rise models with detailed mapping of coastal access locations and infrastructure; restrictions on alongshore passage due to armoring and "coastal squeeze" as shorelines become truncated by the construction of hard structures; human visitation trends through the use of anonymized cell phone location datasets to understand visitor hotspots, user groups' preferences and potential barriers to access; how different populations in Rhode Island and neighboring states use these spaces, particularly those most likely to be impacted by climate change by combining cell phone origination data with geospatial information on projected landscape changes from sea level rise, coastal erosion and other impacts of climate change; ownership and historical use of rights-of-way and adjacent parcels in Bristol County, as a means to prioritize areas for public access designation and to advise communities of legal considerations regarding town properties that may be threatened from climate change factors.
