The Political Complexity of Coastal Flood Risk Reduction: Lessons for Climate Adaptation Public Works in the U.S.

Abstract

Coastal climate adaptation public works, such as storm surge barriers and levees, are central elements of several current proposals to limit damages from coastal storms and sea‐level rise in the United States. Academic analysis of these public works projects is dominated by technocratic and engineering‐driven frameworks. However, social conflict, laws, political incentives, governance structures, and other political factors have played pivotal roles in determining the fate of government‐led coastal flood risk reduction efforts. Here, we review the ways in which politics has enabled or hindered the conception, design, and implementation of coastal risk reduction projects in the U.S. We draw from the literature in natural hazards, infrastructure, political science, and climate adaptation and give supporting examples. Overall, we find that (1) multiple floods are often needed to elicit earnest planning; (2) strong and continuous leadership from elected officials is necessary to advance projects; (3) stakeholder participation during the design stage has improved outcomes; (4) legal challenges to procedural and substantive shortcomings under environmental protection statutes present an enduring obstacle to implementing megastructure proposals.

Cap. 31. Adaptación. En: La Quinta Evaluación Nacional del Clima

“…Pocos requisitos normativos se centran directamente en la adaptación 26 . Las políticas, los marcos y los sistemas de gobernanza existentes en materia de medioambiente y desastres son inadecuados para manejar los cambios a largo plazo, generalizados y transformadores necesarios para adaptarse al cambio climático; tienden a ser reactivos en vez de proactivos y parten de entornos fijos en vez de dinámicos 43,44,45 .…”

“…Aunque existen muchos conjuntos de datos y herramientas para informar sobre la adaptación, su utilidad para la toma de decisiones sigue siendo incierta 46 . Los recursos siguen siendo limitados y dispersos cuando se trata de evaluar el cambio climático y la adaptación 43,44,47,48 . Faltan vías claras para compartir conjuntos de datos y herramientas entre múltiples actores y jurisdicciones (KM 31.4), y faltan procesos agilizados y transparentes para integrar los conocimientos locales y tradicionales.…”

Climate Change, Adaptation Planning and Institutional Integration: A Literature Review and Framework

“…Risks are generally thought to be, in some sense, quantifiable, i.e., capable of being rendered in terms of probabilities describing the likelihood of outcomes [86][87][88][89]. The concentration of people, resources, and systems in urban spaces implies increased exposure, and additional risk based on the location of urban assets (in coastal areas, for example) may arise [26,41]. Risk operates in and across various societal domains: it should be considered in social and economic terms in addition to physical ones, including their interactions [90].…”

“…This is especially true in urban regions complicated by the concentration, entanglement, exposure, and diversity of citizens, resources, assets, and the systems for their management evident there, as well as the numerous, multileveled and/or polycentric governance structures employed as administrative actors [23,24]. Urban areas are complex geographies, where deep and complicated histories, cultures, and institutions generate important questions about the social aspects of power, resources, and environmental health, safety, and justice [25,26]. For these reasons, while we do not rigorously analyze or compare issues arising from various scales of consideration that spatial planning constantly confronts (local vs. national; site-based vs. regional), we examine central ideas and themes related to CCA that are especially evident in densely populated, developed areas.…”

Popular extreme sea level metrics can better communicate impacts

“…Communicating the risks of changing ESLs can build trust between experts and the public, raise awareness, enhance the understanding of risks, develop agreement about policy options, and motivate pre-emptive risk reduction measures (Rowan 1991). In the case of coastal flooding, the latter includes purchasing flood insurance, elevating assets (e.g., regrading or placing homes on stilts), planning long-term land use strategies (e.g., coastal retreat) and implementing hard protection (Oppenheimer et al 2019;Rasmussen et al 2021). Projected changes in ESLs are also crucial for the design of new long-lived infrastructure projects, which can impact future exposure (Rasmussen et al 2020).…”