Search Results
Resource
Vulnerability of Major Wastewater Facilities to Flooding from Sea-Level Rise in King County, Washington
July 2008
King County's Wastewater Treatment Division maintains 77 major facilities, 40 of which are situated adjacent to tidally-influenced water bodies. As effects of climate change continue to grow, the potential for flooding at these facilities as the result of sea-level rise must be assessed and mitigated. The first step in planning for the effects of sea-level rise is to identify which facilities are at risk. This report identifies these facilities and their potential for flooding, considering the effects of both sea-level rise and storm surges, and then recommends the next steps in planning for this change.
Resource Category: Assessments
See Resource Login to Add to My Resource List
Resource
Western Governor's Association Wildlife Corridors Initiative
June 2008
In February 2007 the Western Governors’ Association (WGA) unanimously approved policy resolution 07-01, “Protecting Wildlife Migration Corridors and Crucial Wildlife Habitat in the West. " To implement the resolution, the WGA launched the WGA Wildlife Corridors Initiative, a multi-state and collaborative effort that included six separate working groups, each of which was charged with developing findings and recommendations on various aspects of wildlife corridors and crucial habitat. These Working Groups are the Science Committee, Oil & Gas, Energy, Climate Change, Land Use, and Transportation Working Group.
Resource Category: Planning
See Resource Login to Add to My Resource List
Resource
Water Needs and Strategies for a Sustainable Future: Next Steps
June 2008
This report, along with the 2006 report, "Water Needs and Strategies for a Sustainable Future," and the 2010 report, "Water Needs and Strategies for a Sustainable Future: 2010 Progress Report," include consensus recommendations for how the Western states can work with federal, local, and private sector partners to address the challenges of over-appropriated watersheds, population growth, land use changes, water needs for in-stream uses, and of water supply and water management strategies in general.
Resource Category: Planning
See Resource Login to Add to My Resource List
Resource
Western Governors' Association Wildlife Corridors Initiative Report
June 2008
In response to policy resolution 07-01, Protecting Wildlife Migration Corridors and Crucial Wildlife Habitat in the West, the Western Governors' Association (WGA) launched a Wildlife Corridors Initiative in 2007, a multi-state and collaborative effort in which six work groups were charged with developing recommendations on various aspects of wildlife corridors and crucial habitat in the West.
Resource Category: Planning
See Resource Login to Add to My Resource List
Resource
New Frameworks for Managing Dynamic Coasts: Legal and Policy Tools for Adapting U.S. Coastal Zone Management to Climate Change
June 2008
This paper, published in the Sea Grant Law and Policy Journal, identifies policy and governance reforms that could make coastal communities and ecosystems more resilient to the effects of sea level rise.
Authors or Affiliated Users: Sandra S. Nichols, Carl Bruch
Resource Category: Law and Governance
See Resource Login to Add to My Resource List
Resource
Hotter and Drier: The West's Changed Climate
March 2008
Comparing average temperatures in the last five years to 20th century averages, the West has experienced 70 percent more warming than the world as a whole. This report assesses impacts the West faces with rising temperatures and changes in precipitation levels and patterns. Chapters 6 and 7 provide an overview of mitigation actions to date (2008) and makes high-level recommendations for policymakers. Appendix A provides a 100-year analysis of warming for each of the 11 states in the West (1908-2007).
Authors or Affiliated Users: Stephen Saunders, Charles Montgomery, Tom Easley, Theo Spencer
Resource Category: Assessments
See Resource Login to Add to My Resource List
Resource
Sea Level Rise in the Coastal Waters of Washington State
January 2008
This scientific analysis provides low, medium, and high estimates of sea-level rise for the Northwest Olympic Peninsula, Central and Southern Coasts, and Puget Sound areas for 2050 and 2100, to support both public and private investment and other decision making. The authors examine four key factors that influence local SLR, including thermal expansion of the ocean, melting land ice, local winds, and local land changes (e. g. from tectonic movement and isostatic rebound), to calculate these projections.
Authors or Affiliated Users: Alexander Petersen, Spencer Reeder, Hugh Shipman, Lara Whitely Binder
Resource Category: Assessments
See Resource Login to Add to My Resource List
Resource
Swinomish Climate Change Initiative
2008
“If adaptation is to be our future, we at Swinomish have already proved ourselves equal to the challenge. In the spirit and knowledge of our long history, I urge those within our community to embrace this challenge, and to meet it with every confidence of success. That is the true essence of Swinomish.” ~ Chairman Brian Cladoosby Speepots, Swinomish Indian Tribal Community
Resource Category: Law and Governance
See Resource Login to Add to My Resource List
Resource
The Importance of Climate Change for Future Wildfire Scenarios in the Western United States
December 2007
This report reviews current and projected climate variables that may affect the frequency and severity of wildfires in the Western U. S. for the 21st century. It is one of four case studies in an overall report, titled "Regional Impacts of Climate Change: Four Case Studies in the United States," that examines impacts of particular interest to different regions of the U. S. This section summarizes projections for the 21st century from vegetation models that integrate knowledge of past fire occurrence to simulate changes in fire patterns and their effect on carbon sequestration in western states.
Authors or Affiliated Users: Dominique Bachelet, James M. Lenihan, Ronald P. Neilson
Resource Category: Assessments
See Resource Login to Add to My Resource List
Resource
Sea-Level Rise and Coastal Habitats in the Pacific Northwest: An Analysis for Puget Sound, Southwestern Washington, and Northwestern Oregon
July 2007
This report, by the National Wildlife Federation, documents results from a study on the projected impacts of sea-level rise to key coastal habitats in the Pacific Northwest. The study modeled sea-level rise up to 2 meters, based on input from prior studies, and examined its effects including the inundation of estuarine beaches, loss of tidal flats and marshes, and the inundation of inland swamps. The report also provides a brief description of how these effects will impact wildlife. Finally, the report makes one broad recommendation for planners to account for sea-level rise in their habitat restoration projects.
Authors or Affiliated Users: Patty Glick, Jonathan Clough, Brad Nunley
Resource Category: Assessments


