South carolina barrier islands4/28/2023 ![]() The report cites data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), including trends of sea level rise over time. Guided by input from stakeholders, the team drafted a report for dissemination throughout Beaufort County. Following the workshops, Merchant and the project team used the collaborative work of the community to generate a final list of 23 actions the county could take to improve its resilience to rising waters. After an introductory presentation and overview of sea level rise, participants split into small groups to discuss and suggest edits to the list of priority actions. The team presented these actions at two public workshops to seek input from others in the community. Through the VCAPS process, the project team produced a list of actions that could bolster the county’s resilience to sea level rise. For example, the Beaufort County group consulted with a local realtor to gauge his response to a potential sea level rise hazard disclosure for home buyers, and his input was integrated with previous input. The structured process helps the group capture key details of the conversation over time, including new perspectives added by participants who join the effort at different phases of the project. ![]() Using the process, local stakeholders and scientific experts co-produce knowledge by discussing what the local vulnerabilities are, what impacts might look like in familiar places across the region, and what they can do to prepare. This tool provides a structured approach to help small groups organize and document dialogue and progress in understanding environmental hazards. To facilitate the project, the group used the Vulnerability, Consequences, and Adaptation Planning Scenarios (VCAPS) process. A potential public action identified through the dialog is to elevate critical routes. A contextual factor is that the region relies on these causeways for emergency evacuation. A potential outcome of higher water levels is flooding of low-lying causeways, and a consequence of such flooding is reduced transportation connectivity. In Beaufort County, decision makers used the process to document concern about sea level rise (climate stressor). This diagram shows the building blocks of the VCAPS process used to document group dialog. In order to raise awareness and encourage involvement, Merchant and the project team began the planning process with a collaborative opportunity for local stakeholders and scientific experts to learn from each other about the potential impacts of sea level rise on the county’s economy and society. Though some residents in the region were aware of the potential impacts of sea level rise, the topic was rarely discussed in the larger community. Tasked with implementing the Comprehensive Plan, Long Range Planner Robert Merchant began by forming a number of partnerships. One of the recommendations in the final plan calls specifically for the county government to anticipate and plan for the impacts of climate change and sea level rise. In planning for the future, community leaders recognized their potential vulnerability to long-term sea level rise and pressed for including the topic in the 2010 Beaufort County Comprehensive Plan. With the presence of a thriving Marine Corps training facility, a host of resorts, golf courses, retirement communities, and traditional African-American and Gullah/Geechee peoples, the population of Beaufort County has grown rapidly in recent decades. Even the uplands of Beaufort County are low: two-thirds of these areas are within the 100-year flood zone designated by the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA). The county encompasses several of the Sea Islands, a chain of low-lying barrier islands that are separated by wide expanses of marshland and meandering creeks. Mixed media artwork by William Armstrong.īeaufort County in South Carolina is located at the heart of the Lowcountry-a coastal region named for the fact that most of its land sits just above sea level.
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