To get ahead of the growing crisis, the region will need to overcome several impediments:
- Planning and investments are reactive rather than proactive. There is neither a plan nor a budget for adaptation projects that can prioritize investments and prepare for future contingencies. Instead, current funding sources and policies depend on unreliable federal funding that promotes short-term recovery over long-term investments.
- Most of the region’s smaller cities, towns and villages have limited capacity. The vast majority of the region’s municipalities are governed by part-time or volunteer mayors and councils, and even the larger municipalities lack the staff capacity and resources to address and plan for long-term climate changes. Coastal flooding is a regional problem, but most planning happens locally. Each state and municipality has different rules, policies and guidelines, and limited incentives to collaborate.
- Coastlines and infrastructure transverse government boundaries, and since water is fluid, management practices in one state or municipality can have an inadvertent impact on others.
- State coastal management programs leave several problems unaddressed. The coastal management programs of the three states vary widely in approach, and inconsistent policies can prevent important adaptation strategies from being implemented across state lines. At the same time, adaptation is not a singular focus of any program, nor are issues of regional significance, such as infrastructure.
To give climate adaptation the priority it needs and to be able to implement solutions at different geographic scales, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut should create a Regional Coastal Commission (RCC). The commission would be empowered to maintain a dedicated focus on the region’s climate adaptation needs, help mobilize the region’s resources to address them, coordinate strategies and develop common standards. It would also prioritize funding that can be used for region-wide resilience projects.
![RPA Coastal Counties in the NY NJ CT Region Vulnerable SLR](https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/300/quality:80/work/RPA-Coastal-Counties-in-the-NY-NJ-CT-Region-Vulnerable-SLR.png?bossToken=e3f9feb0b08f58bae3d9d1784f504c92307904e47aa9eaef1ff87a294e081191 171w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/600/quality:80/work/RPA-Coastal-Counties-in-the-NY-NJ-CT-Region-Vulnerable-SLR.png?bossToken=ed363eb67aff71479228f611c78f422e445d26411bf982b8a16a4311c71a0d2b 343w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/900/quality:80/work/RPA-Coastal-Counties-in-the-NY-NJ-CT-Region-Vulnerable-SLR.png?bossToken=964d8f09f62687e3b3d4434742c80efa4bc90555a5c9ab235f3a250325659b4c 514w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1200/quality:80/work/RPA-Coastal-Counties-in-the-NY-NJ-CT-Region-Vulnerable-SLR.png?bossToken=5f87e2a4ae3a2df8fc64a8f3b8821912bb01de3e5168cd221979999fc3a7d38c 686w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1500/quality:80/work/RPA-Coastal-Counties-in-the-NY-NJ-CT-Region-Vulnerable-SLR.png?bossToken=56127d50fc1f00c819c99eb8c4299df2aa126d4760fbc88ad79600ec3ca18e86 857w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1800/quality:80/work/RPA-Coastal-Counties-in-the-NY-NJ-CT-Region-Vulnerable-SLR.png?bossToken=2554f980313fb1e541fed6ed697f260ce985fcca4dfb0a0206c2d21fc4b77a95 1029w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2100/quality:80/work/RPA-Coastal-Counties-in-the-NY-NJ-CT-Region-Vulnerable-SLR.png?bossToken=10f65f2cc19dc9c8b3948832a7416de3f3b03145e778dc28bdae94c2be1196de 1200w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2400/quality:80/work/RPA-Coastal-Counties-in-the-NY-NJ-CT-Region-Vulnerable-SLR.png?bossToken=c16a4fbaa02dac20e6e0c7443ca05732ebef9a71ab6f66c84f2456dddbe6c663 1371w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2700/quality:80/work/RPA-Coastal-Counties-in-the-NY-NJ-CT-Region-Vulnerable-SLR.png?bossToken=0d0b5a1b8c716d75e53ba9bbb7fb5a4c71ff34ce5e66b85adc36deadd36c6a7a 1543w)
Acknowledgements
Authored by
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Jesse Keenan
Harvard University, Graduate School of Design,
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