E&E Advisory Committee Meeting Recap: Update on Boston’s Coastal and Flood Resilience Plans
November 21, 2023
On November 3rd, A Better City Energy and Environment (E&E) Unit’s Advisory Committee held a hybrid meeting featuring a presentation by Chris Osgood, Senior Advisor for Infrastructure at the City of Boston, and Rich McGuinness, Deputy Director for Climate Change and Environmental Planning at the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA), on the City’s ongoing efforts to promote coastal and flooding resilience. The presentation included a recap of Boston’s near-term and long-term flood threats Downtown and along its waterfronts, as well as specific updates for projects in the design phase. Joining Chris and Rich’s presentation and Q&A were also Boston’s Environment Commissioner, Alison Brizius.
Background Context: Planning for Boston’s Coastal Flood Projections
According to Climate Ready Boston, by 2050 and as early as 2030, Boston is projected to see 9 inches in sea-level rise (SLR), accompanied by $137 million in annualized losses. By 2100, and as early as 2050, these numbers are expected to increase to 21 inches in SLR and $455 million in losses. By 2070, a 100-year flood event (a particularly devastating flood that has a 1% chance of occurring in any single year) could result in 3 feet in SLR and nearly $1.4 billion in annualized losses.[1] By any metric, the cost of inaction to protect Boston from coastal flooding and sea level rise will be extremely expensive, making potential solutions for climate resilience all the more necessary to implement.
Climate Ready Boston Resilient Infrastructure Updates
Local Park Updates
A Better City’s E&E Advisory Committee has been actively following climate resilience progress in Boston and was grateful to hear updates on many local climate resilience projects that are in progress or completed. Langone Park & Puopolo Playground in the North End, Martin’s Park in the Seaport, and McConnell Park in Dorchester were all completed within the past four years. Each park incorporates elevated paths, gardens, and sea walls above the Climate Ready Boston-predicted SLR, trees with permeable surfaces and drainage storage, and revitalized recreational activity and leisure spaces. Ryan Playground in Charlestown, which has received $19 million in funding, will begin a similar revitalization 2024, and Piers Park in East Boston is currently in Phase 3 of construction.
One of Boston’s largest, and most exemplary coastal resilience and revitalization efforts is the Moakley Park Resilience Plan. The City of Boston received $1.65 million for pre-construction planning and design through the FEMA Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant Program and is set to receive a $50 million FEMA Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant to begin construction. The re-design of Moakley Park will feature a flood berm and core wall, able to withstand a 21-inch rise in sea level, embedded within a coastal park of maritime shrubland and marsh species on the inland side of Day Boulevard. This area will also incorporate stormwater management, utilizing flood corridors, tree trenches, and catchment basins. On the coast-facing side of Day Boulevard, dune restoration and beach nourishment will buffer against 9-inch sea level rise associated with storm surges. On the surface, Moakley Park will have all new fields, event and play areas, and nature paths, which promote community benefits and social resilience, alongside coastal resilience, in a known flood path for storm surge and sea level rise.
Fort Point Channel
Situated between Downtown and South Boston, the Fort Point Channel Infrastructure Project is a key focal point for both Climate Ready Boston and the Wharf District Council. The Fort Point Channel forms a major flood path threatening the South End and parts of South Boston, Roxbury, and Downtown. Boston received a $10 million Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant from the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) to begin construction on a reinforced flood barrier, which will include three segments of vegetated berms and a sea wall at a height 1.5 feet taller than the Climate Ready Boston 100-year flood event SLR, or 4.5 feet above its current height. Construction will elevate and embed the existing Harbor Walk into the 45-foot-wide berms and 18-ft-wide sea wall along the southern embankment of the channel, beginning at 15 Necco St. and ending at Dorchester Ave.
Long Wharf
Long Wharf is another focal point for the Wharf District Council’s resilience plan, whose projects will protect the waterfront, Downtown, and the North End from long-term flooding and extreme flood events. According to their July 2023 report, the Council has proposed a Long Wharf Resilience Plan, to be completed in two phases, with the first creating an inland flood barrier level with a proposed berm in Christopher Columbus Park running along the coastal façade of the Marriott Hotel, and the second elevating the dock and driveway to a height 15 feet above where it currently sits. The City and the Wharf District Council are still looking to secure funding, and the BPDA, who will lead the project, is holding recurring public meetings for input. The next meeting will take place on December 6th at 6:00 pm.
Tenean Beach
As part of the Dorchester Resilient Waterfront Project, BPDA is developing coastal resilience construction plans for Tenean Beach, which are currently in the 30% concept design phase. Tenean Beach is set to receive a $12 million FEMA BRIC Grant in early 2024, at which point the Massachusetts Department of Recreation and Conservation (DCR), who manages the public beach, will take over project lead for future construction and design updates. The project will include restoring the natural beach dune with native grasses, restoring the creek embankment along the Neponset River, and revitalizing the recreational spaces to provide ADA compliant park access, tree canopy for extreme heat relief, and elevated surfaces to protect against severe flooding. Tenean Beach is situationally important for community and regional resilience since it is a major flood path threatening the MBTA’s Red Line Braintree Branch, and it is one of the few coastal parks easily accessible to Dorchester residents for heat relief during the summer months.
Q+A & Next Steps
After the presentation, there was a brief Q+A session, including the following questions:
- Given the Army Corps of Engineers study will take time to complete, what are the priority projects you have planned in the interim?
- The City’s Climate Ready Boston partnership with the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is putting together specific engineering designs for each of Boston’s districts and neighborhoods that are at risk to future flooding events, which could help unlock additional funding and permitting. Once the design phase is completed, USACE projects become eligible for 65% federal funding, along with a 35% non-federal match. The Boston/USACE feasibility and design study has been underway for the past 2 years, and it is expected to be completed in the next 3-4 years, with concrete plans to implement solutions starting in the early 2030s.
- How is the City approaching funding and financing for the implementation of identified climate resilience projects because at the state-level, Climate Chief Melissa’ Hoffer’s October 2023 report suggests that anywhere from 8–30% of needed climate investments for Massachusetts could be funded by federal funding sources, leaving a potential funding and financing gap of 70-90%?
- Commissioner Brizius responded that Boston will be applying for grants from FEMA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the Department of Transportation (USDOT), and will continue to track emerging funding opportunities to target as much climate resilience funding as possible. The City of Boston is also eager to partner with the private sector on unlocking additional private capital for resilience initiatives.
For more information, please contact Yve Torrie or Isabella Gambill. For relevant links on the information provided above, please see: Boston/US Army Corps Partnership, Long Wharf Planning Meeting on 12/6, Fort Point Channel Infrastructure Project, Wharf District Council, Moakley Park Project, and information on the Dorchester Resilient Waterfront Project at Tenean Beach.
[1] https://greenribboncommission.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Financing-Climate-Resilience-April-2018.pdf
