Maryland Next Generation Adaptation Plan (NextGen)

Maryland’s Next Generation Adaptation Plan (NextGen), developed by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, presents a comprehensive 10-year roadmap to enhance Maryland’s resilience to climate change. The NextGen plan presents action items to improve resilience across five sectors: (1) water resources, (2) human health, (3) working lands and natural resource-based economies, (4) natural resources and ecosystems, and (5) critical infrastructure. Three focus areas are also discussed and integrated into goals and action items: justice, equity, diversity and inclusion (JEDI); local government and state service delivery; and climate jobs and training. The plan lists priority areas for action, which range from immediate action to long term. For each of the topics, the plan identifies “resource-ready” priorities, which are initiatives that can be shortly launched, and “investment-needed” priorities, which require additional resources from state agencies and partners.

The JEDI focus area aims to “achieve equitable outcomes for at-risk, underserved, and vulnerable populations.” The “resource-ready” priorities related to JEDI relate to changing governance structures and aligning agencies around equity and environmental justice, and focusing on communications and engagement. It includes initiatives like continuing to develop and promote the Climate Justice Equity Toolkit, which “builds common glossaries and prompts for consideration of JEDI principles across agencies.” The “investment-needed” priorities focus on identifying and reversing trends of disinvestment and improving decisionmaking processes so as to better prioritize investment in overburdened communities. It also calls for resources to go towards building lasting relationships with communities through sustained engagement efforts. One short-term action includes using the Supporting Equitable Access to Funding for Adaptation Resources (SEAFARE) initiative to identify barriers to equitable funding and to make recommendations for legislative changes. JEDI principles are also integrated throughout the priorities and action items discussed within other sections of the NextGen plan. 

The local government and state service delivery focus area aims to build “local government capacity to adapt to climate change” and support local adaptation. For instance, the Chesapeake and Coastal Service Unit offers technical assistance, including climate adaptation training tailored to specific local needs. This includes workshops, toolkits, and direct consultations to help municipalities navigate complex climate adaptation challenges such as flood risk, coastal erosion, and rising temperatures. The plan also supports the development of regional resilience collaboratives and plans.

The climate jobs and training focus area aims to increase climate job opportunities while minimizing net job loss. The plan focuses on expanding the Maryland Climate Corps for hands-on training in conservation, disaster response, and energy efficiency. It promotes registered apprenticeships in offshore wind, solar, and building retrofits, partnering with technical schools, unions, and state agencies to create career pathways. Targeted investments fund training in underserved communities, ensuring equitable access to green jobs. The plan prioritizes certifications and upskilling in climate resilience sectors to align workforce development with Maryland’s adaptation goals.

The water resources section of the plan includes priorities for improving the resilience of the state’s water quality and supply in the face of climate change and building overall resilience in the state to water-driven hazards that will increase due to climate change. For instance, the Advancing Stormwater Resiliency in Maryland (A-StoRM) initiative aims to address outdated stormwater management systems and regulations by integrating climate-informed precipitation projections into revised site design regulations, and updating best management practices and design criteria to account for higher intensity flooding. Other action items address concerns related to sea-level rise impacts on septic systems, monitoring drought conditions, saltwater intrusion, and many other potential impacts to water quality, supply, and infrastructure. These measures are designed to reduce urban flooding, improve water quality, and protect communities from increasingly intense rainfall events. 

The human health section of the plan aims to help the state better understand and prepare for climate-change-related health impacts. It recommends updating the Maryland Climate and Health Profile for the state, creating a statewide climate and health network, integrating a Health Impact Assessment framework to consider health equity in all adaptation decisions, and increasing climate and health awareness through outreach. It also recommends improving public health surveillance and online tracking system to “display data on direct and indirect health impacts attributable to climate change.” 

For working lands and natural resource-based economies, the plan aims to preserve the health of working lands and waters and ensure the sustainability and viability of natural resources-based industries in the face of changing conditions. For example, it directs state agencies to work with farmers to increase adoption of practices that improve soil health and conservation and sequester carbon. 

The natural resources and ecosystems section includes recommendations to improve land and natural resources management to account for climate change, such as through adaptive management practices. For instance, the Department of Natural Resources is directed to set numeric goals that account for the latest science and facilitate habitat and ecosystem migration.

Finally, the critical infrastructure section of the plan aims to better prioritize decisions relating to critical infrastructure by accounting for potential climate change impacts. It recommends inventorying critical infrastructure assets, creating a framework and decision support toolbox for decisionmaking about critical infrastructure, and integrating resilience components into critical infrastructure projects to fortify critical infrastructure systems against climate risks. It emphasizes increasing energy grid resilience, modernizing stormwater and wastewater systems, and upgrading transportation networks to withstand extreme weather. The plan supports resilient building codes, enhanced flood protection, and nature-based solutions like wetland restoration. It calls for interagency coordination and private-sector partnerships to integrate climate resilience into infrastructure planning. Funding mechanisms focus on pre-disaster mitigation grants and investments in redundant systems to ensure critical services are uninterrupted. 

The plan was written by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and builds on the state’s 2021 Adaptation Framework, which “was created to establish the vision, goals, strategies, and activities that will guide the next decade of adaptation implementation across the state.” 

Publication Date: August 23, 2024

Related Organizations:

  • Maryland Department of Natural Resources

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Resource Types:

  • Adaptation plan

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