Climate Adaptation Action Plan

By the end of the century, tide levels in Pleasant Bay could see an increase of one to three feet due to sea level rise, with potential effects to the Nauset Barrier beach and Pleasant Bay shoreline. In additional to sea level rise, water temperatures in Pleasant Bay could increase by more than 2°F in the next 30 years. Without adaptation measures, the resulting effects could reduce community resilience, diminish public access to the water, limit the effectiveness of water protection infrastructure, and diminish the ecological functioning of the estuary.

The Pleasant Bay Alliance has been awarded a Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Action Grant in the amount of $292,710 to develop a Pleasant Bay Climate Adaptation Action Plan. The Town of Chatham will administer the grant as the fiscal agent for the Alliance.

The project responds to multiple top resilience threats and priority resilience actions identified in each of the four towns’ MVP plans. Project partners include: Center for Coastal Studies, Wright-Pierce, Barnstable County Cooperative Extension, and Cape Cod National Seashore.
The goal of the Climate Adaptation Action Plan is to protect the integrity of estuarine ecological functions and enhance resilience of low-lying public access points and water protection infrastructure (e.g., for stormwater or wastewater management) in and around Pleasant Bay from climate-induced adverse effects. The project seeks to accomplish this goal by pursuing the following objectives:

YEAR 1: Assess Climate Threats and Resilience Potential

1. How Sea Level Rise is Estimated
2. Storm-tide Pathways Report (Center for Coastal Studies)
3. Barrier Beach Vulnerability Assessment (Center for Coastal Studies)
4. Projected Climate Impacts to Intertidal Resources (Center for Coastal Studies)
5. Projected Climate Impacts to Public Access Sites and Stormwater, Water Supply and Wastewater Infrastructure: Selection of Case Studies and Establishment of Threshold Elevations
6. A Site Selection Model for Eelgrass Restoration and Enhancement for Pleasant Bay
7. A Site Selection Model for Saltmarsh Restoration and Enhancement for Pleasant Bay

Reports

Barrier Beach and Inner Shoreline
Stormtide pathways report – Center for Coastal Studies
Barrier beach vulnerability interim report – Center for Coastal Studies
Intertidal resources interim report – Center for Coastal Studies

Public Access and Water Protection Infrastructure
Case study site selection and threshold elevations – Wright-Pierce

Salt Marsh and Eelgrass Restoration
A Site Selection Model for Eelgrass Restoration and Enhancement for Pleasant Bay, MA – Novak and Plaisted

YEAR 2: Stakeholder Engagement in Development of a Climate Adaptation Action Plan