Northeast Florida Summary and Regional Action Plan - A Report of the Emergency Preparedness Committee on Sea Level Rise

The Northeast Florida Regional Council (NFERC), a council of regional community leaders, began a sea level rise adaptation planning process with this action plan for the seven county region of Northeast Florida (Baker, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Nassau, Putnam, and St. Johns counties).  NEFRC assigned sea level rise as a policy issue to the Regional Community Institute of Northeast Florida, Inc. (RCI). RCI gave this task to its Emergency Preparedness Committee who reviewed and analyzed data on sea level rise, and then developed recommendations based on that analysis.

The Committee found Northeast Florida to be vulnerable to sea level rise and recommended that the region should consider the potential for impacts of 6”, 1’, 3’ and 6’ of rise. Using the findings, they worked with coastal or waterfront local governments on community resiliency assessments. Their final task was to take the best practices and lessons learned from the local government experience and make policy recommendations to the NEFRC in October 2013.

This report offers the Committee’s lessons learned and policy recommendations on how the region can begin the long term planning for protecting the communities’ infrastructure and coastal assets from sea level rise. Most of these recommendations center on recognizing the need for community leaders to include sea level rise in their planning process as they make decisions on land use, infrastructure placement and community sustainability throughout the 21st century.

An extensive list of policies were recommended for NEFRC, other regional entities and local governments to aid in planning for sea level rise. This report compiles the recommendations, and also includes the list of communities that participated, as well as links to sea level rise initiatives in Florida.

The adaptation strategies and policy recommendations to manage prospective sea level rise in the region are detailed under the following general actions:

  • Create a Clearinghouse on Understanding (SLR) Risk
  • Engage the Community
  • Save Money
  • Collaborate and Leverage Success
  • Engage the Business Sector in Long Term Resiliency

 

 

Publication Date: November 2013

Related Organizations:

  • Northeast Florida Regional Council

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Resource Types:

  • Assessment
  • Plans (other)

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