Future shock: Town Attorney reports on rising sea levels

Record heat waves followed by extreme storms, biblical rainfall and destructive winds, sea levels rising up to four feet by the end of the century, Wades and Crescent beaches gone, marshes and creeks only memories, failed infrastructure nightmares, freshwater wells salted out and surrounding bays flooded with poisons.

Town Attorney Laury Dowd presented these grim predictions at Tuesday’s Town Board work session courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Ms. Dowd attended a NOAA conference in April on the subject of “Coastal Resilience and Climate Change” at the Touro Law School in Central Islip. The term coastal resilience “means how we bounce back from storms,” Ms. Dowd said, and how a community can prepare for the coming challenges ahead produced by the consequences of global warming.

The negative effects of the planet heating for the Island are already beginning to happen, Ms. Dowd reported, but they will begin to rapidly accelerate over the next 80 years unless something is done to prepare for them.

A current New York State law, called the “Community Risk and Resiliency Act” requires state agencies to consider future risks posed by climate change, Ms. Dowd reported. She gave some sobering facts gleaned from the conference, including the inevitability of severe flooding wrecking the Island’s infrastructure unless steps are taken to prevent it.

In addition to damage done to Island structures and roads in the coming years, serious problems are in the cards for the Island’s fresh water supply. Rising seas means the water table goes up and saltwater intrudes into the aquifer, Ms. Dowd said. Cesspools and septic systems are also flooded when the sea level rises.

As for the surrounding bays, nitrogen entering them from cesspools means a habitat for shell and fin fish to produce and thrive is in peril.

Solutions to rising sea levels means, Ms. Dowd said, protecting our shorelines, accommodating ourselves to water rising and realignment of infrastructure, which means building inland rather than on the coasts.

Some solutions are being put in place elsewhere, Ms. Dowd said. In Maine towns are building large culverts to accommodate overwhelming volumes of water from severe storms so roads and properties aren’t flooded. In Hawaii, wetland setbacks are being increased and Maryland is upping the ante for shoreline protections.

Massachusetts is giving incentives to homeowners who are elevating structures, and closer to home, New Jersey is simply buying waterfront properties, and in East Hampton, rising sea levels and effective coastal management is being included in the town’s comprehensive plan.

For the Island, identifying areas at risk is a first step. Ms. Dowd noted that access to Ram Island, emergency ferry access, Bridge Street, Reel and Shell beaches are areas of concern.

Police Chief Jim read, as emergency management coordinator for the Island, said the town has a “Hazard Mitigation Plan ” in place identifying roadways and areas, an important step because federal grants for improvements and damages won’t flow unless a detailed plan is in place.

Councilwoman Chris Lewis noted that times have changed for the worse in that previous generations built their homes inland, but the trend now, and for the past several decades, has been to build on the shoreline.
“Those people were on to something and they didn’t have our technology,” Ms. Lewis said.

Supervisor Jim Dougherty, noting that “we’re all late to the game,” added that he was “surprised that our local real estate industry isn’t more sensitive to this.”

“Right now they’re following the money,” Councilman Paul Shepherd said, “and will follow it inland eventually.”

Continuing the theme of protecting water, Building Department intern Henry Reed reported on his mapping of the Island’s cesspools and septic systems. Town Engineer John Cronin has been in the forefront of the issue of pollution from antiquated or completely failed cesspools and septic systems and pushed for a study of the Island’s systems.

Mr. Reed worked last summer and is back to conclude his study. So far he’s identified 1,361 out of a total of about 2,500.

The purpose of the study is to determine what systems are recorded and then plot them by latitude and longitude to help “evaluate risks” such as “nearness to wells, the coastline, fresh water bodies and the aquifer,” Mr. Reed said.

Several high school students from teacher Peter Midema’s class attended the work session. Ken Pysher, a member of the Water Advisory Committee, noted how appropriate it was that the students were present for the discussion. “You’re going to be right in the middle of it,” he said, referring to the future challenges of rising sea levels and increased numbers of severe storms.

Mr. Pysher added that the Island should consider a municipal wastewater dispersal system as “part of a long range plan on Shelter Island” to protect fresh and saltwater resources.

Mr. Dougherty said Ms. Dowd’s report “is a call to arms for all of us. It’s an excellent opportunity with the young people here to stimulate thinking and get the word out.”