Community Resilience: It Takes A Village

Civil Society Leadership SymposiumDecember 8, 2009

Margaret A. DavidsonNOAA’s Coastal Services Center

To understand and predict changes in Earth’s environment and conserve and manage coastal and marine resources to meet our nation’s economic, social, and environmental needs

NOAA’s Mission and Vision

An informed society that uses a comprehensive understanding of the role of the oceans, coasts, and atmosphere in the global ecosystem to make the best social and economic decisions

NOAA Priorities

1. Ensure continuity of climate, weather, and ocean observations, both in situ and from space

2. Development of a National Climate Service 3. Improve weather forecasts & disaster warnings4. Eliminate overfishing and ensure the sustainability

of marine fisheries 5. Promote sustainable, resilient, and healthy coastal

communities 6. Strengthen Arctic science and stewardship

Carbon Tracker

Hurricane Rick 2009

Long Beach, CA Habitat Restoration

~1+ Ton Mackerel

>$1 Billion Weather Disasters 1980 – 2007

Inundation and Accelerated Sea Level Rise“Models used to date do not… include the full effects of changes in ice sheet flow, because a basis in published literature is lacking.”

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Fourth Assessment Report

• More frequent and severe flooding from accelerated sea level rise (SLR)

• Increasing population and development at risk

• Information and tools needed now to aid decision making, even with the uncertainty in SLR projections

Coastal Communities: Vital to U.S. and International Economies

• 57 percent of the U.S. national gross domestic product is contributed by coastal watershed counties.

• Coastal counties contain 53 percent of the nation’s population—but account for only 17 percent of U.S. land area (excludes Alaska).

• Coastal habitats help reduce impacts of floods, storms, and climate change on coastal communities by absorbing water, wave energy, and other stressors.

Digital Coast

Multipurpose Marine Cadastre

Legislative Atlas

Maps coastal and marine regulations

Currently includes• Federal legislation for Atlantic, Pacific, Gulf coasts• State legislation for Gulf of Mexico region, CA, OR, WA • Database of coastal laws

Informational Products

Barriers to Success

Risk should be driving decision-making regarding development and redevelopment, but it is not. Why?• Development revenues infused to local communities; losses are

spread nationally• Impediments associated with takings law: “… nor shall private

property be taken for public use, without just compensation" • Federal policies that subsidize development in risky areas• Need for improved communication of risk and urgency• Lack of incentive or mandate for the range of state and local

managers (i.e., emergency, floodplain, resource managers, land use, and transportation planners) to work together toward an effective solution

NOAA Decision Support for ResiliencePartnerships• Chambers of Commerce (Mobile Bay)• The Nature Conservancy, Trust for Public

Land, Land Trust Alliance• Federal agencies• Academia

Assessments and Planning Guidance• Adapting to Coastal Climate Change: A

Guidebook for Development Planners (international)

• Local, regional, and state government guidebooks (domestic)

Social Science to Improve Products and Services

Understanding and improving how science is used in decision-making

Preparing Your Community

Multihazard Mitigation Council: a public/private partnership designed to reduce the societal and economic costs of natural hazards

Study Goal:“to fund an independent study to assess the future savings resulting from the various types of mitigation activities.”

Study Finding:Grants are cost effective:

$1 spent on mitigation saves society an average of $4

The Partnership Dimension: Internalizing Risk

Creative partnerships to integrate climate information and planning tools • Public housing• Insurance industry

Understanding cultural perceptions and what people value to promote risk-wise behavior

Using tools and training to incentivize policy and behavior changes to encourage sustainability

Raising the level of community understanding and interaction