LSPA’s Watershed Steward, Robert Wood, is a principal
investigator in an ambitious new undertaking in the Sunapee Watershed. Residents
and municipalities will benefit from a recent grant awarded by the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to several New England researchers
to investigate the adequacy of stormwater infrastructure in the 50 square
mile watershed.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) awarded the Lake
Sunapee Protective Association and a team of scientists from Antioch University
New England and Syntectic International of Portland, Oregon the grant to study
and prepare the Lake Sunapee watershed for increased stormwater runoff. The
project partners wanted to protect a study site comprised of vulnerable stormwater
and drinking-water systems, provide climate adaptation information to support
community-driven decision-making, and disseminate results to promote safe communities
nationwide. By providing decision-support the study promotes a key recommendation
of the IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report. By developing a reliable, local-scale
adaptation protocol, the project will maintain historical flood protection
levels for the study site and other communities facing significant impacts
from climate change and population growth.
Funded by NOAA's Climate Program
Office, five of the eight researchers on the team are either Antioch University
New England faculty members or alumni. The interdisciplinary group includes
Latham Stack of Syntectic International; Michael Simpson, Jim Gruber, and Colin
Lawson of Antioch University New England; Dr. Robert Roseen of the University
of New Hampshire Storm Water Center; Thomas Crosslin of Climate Techniques
in Portland, Oregon; Robert Wood of the Lake Sunapee Protective Association;
and internationally recognized adaptation expert Joel Smith of Stratus Consulting
in Boulder, Colorado.
The project, funded by the Climate Program Office of
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, will focus on the Lake
Sunapee watershed. This region, like many others, is experiencing an unusual
and ongoing period of extreme or record rainfalls that significantly diverge
from the historical climate pattern. Previous New England studies by the team
found that portions of existing drainage systems are currently undersized as
a result of already-changed rainfall patterns.
"Recent experience and scientific studies are clear," said Michael
Simpson, director of Antioch University New England’s Resource Management
and Conservation program. "Storm patterns are worsening and it is no longer
prudent to delay action. We will never have perfect science, however sufficient
science is available now. This project will protect the community with adequately
reliable, local-scale information to support informed decisions." By encouraging
the participation of community members, the project will empower citizens to
choose adaptation plans that are best for their towns. For example, Low Impact
Development methods can minimize runoff and significantly reduce the need for
more expensive drainage system upgrades.
According to Latham Stack, CEO of
Syntectic International LLC, “The availability of reliable and economical
solutions can make the difference between returning to historical protection
levels, or continuing to expose people and assets to worsening hazards." Simpson
explained that stormwater engineers and planners have always needed to cope
with uncertainty and change, and the construction of water systems designed
using best-available knowledge has always proceeded in parallel with the development
of theory. “The past was not as certain as we like to think, and problems
posed by population growth and climate change are not that different from previous
challenges," said Stack. Project methods will be broadly transferable,
according to Simpson. The project team hopes to catalyze similar work nationwide,
reducing further loss of life and damage from worsening storms. By demonstrating
a practical protocol for action, this work provides urgently needed decision-support
to leaders seeking to maintain historical protection levels in their communities.
The field work for the project began with resident volunteers and Antioch graduate
students began in the fall of 2009. The intent was to cover all 180 known culverts
and bridges. this was accomplished, with unrecorded culverts measured as well.
Meanwhile, scientists on the project are currently looking at historic changes
in rainfall amounts over the last 30 years in comparison with rainfall data
from the last century to understand the storm event increases. for more inforamtion
as the project proceeds, see detail below:
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