Until earlier this month with the December storms, living in the Northwest in the last 5 years, the Puget Sound area has not experienced many of the extreme weather conditions that cause flooding or extreme heat’s impact on Agriculture production. Many areas of the world are spending their government’s funds cleaning up from hurricanes, flooding and droughts and do not have enough funds to find new housing for displaced people
Thanks to President Biden, several cities are using Federal funds for their Climate Change programs. In Lakewood, this $ 13 million Federal funding has already been released and is earning interest of $2.6 Million, in interest to use over the mulit-year project.
Lakewood is no stranger to leader ship after they received an award from Governor Jay Inslee for setting a tree canopy goal of 40%. The city plans to plant enough trees for carbon sequestering that will offset the increase in cars and people for the future development in the city which was identified in the city’s 2021 Growth Management plan. The Smart Communities Award was given in 2022.
According to a recent New York Times story, storms are becoming more intense. And right now, floods are wreaking havoc across parts of Asia. In the past Hurricanes caused such severe damage in Fort Meyers Florida that the state had to rebuild the bridge to Sanibel island..
Hurricane Ian caused the catastrophic failure to the Bridge to The Sanibel Causeway,. Temporary repairs took 25 days and $285 million to make permanent repairs. In July 2023 a “weather bomb” caused a widespread, catastrophic flooding event fueled by heavy, relentless rainfall. Meteorologists said the flooding was due to the intense, localized rainfall rates.
This ‘bomb: caused significant flooding to the towns of Montpelier, Vermont and severe flash flooding also occurred in areas like St. Johnsbury, VT, the overall damage across the Northeastern U.S. including New York and Vermont) was estimated at $2.2 billion.
Federal funding initiated by the President and passed by last year’s Congress which gave cities, like Lakewood, funding to take a significant role in safeguarding the environment and preparing for the extreme weather conditions that will arise from continued climate change disasters. Lakewood was awarded more than $13 million in ARPA funding. which must be spent by Dec. 31, 2026.. The current congress may not continue the program in red states, but in Lakewood projects are started and they’re on track to complete by the deadline.
Whether it’s a “weather bomb” or sea level rise, our state legislature appropriated funds in preparation for a major traffic jam from anticipated flooding of the Nisqually River. Geologist expect the river to cut a new path around the existing two Interstate 5 highway bridges These Nisqually River bridges on I-5 over the Nisqually Delta is a looming liability to the environment and to regional transport. The river above the current bridge is likely to break through the river bank and follow the path of an old creek across the lower delta to Puget Sound.
Altogether, between 2021 and 2023, the State Legislature appropriated $9.65 million. The funding is for preliminary engineering and environmental review. If the bridge is built before the flood it will prevent 4,000 cars an hour from using county roads from Hawks Prairie to Mounts Road. The Legislature also approved $22.4 million to build a causeway in anticipation of sea level rise flooding the Nisqually Delta and Port of Tacoma by the end of the century.
Rebuilding whole freeways or relocating neighborhoods, it’s not at all clear what kind of adaptation measures would prevent major storms from exacting a huge toll, in cities like New York and small towns in New England or North Carolina & Ashville experienced flooding damage from rogue storms.
In Asheville, an estimated 126,000 homes were damaged or destroyed. That includes, over 6,000 miles of roads and more than 1,000 bridges/culverts were damaged. The City of Asheville lost drinking water for 53 days due to damage to a main water plant.
Lakewood steps up into a leadership position.
A few years ago the Lakewood City Council began this process by prioritizing tree protection and climate change planning. Now the City is beginning the next phase by taking that planning and putting it into action that they call — Natural Environment & Climate Change (NECC) Program.
The city staff are recruiting volunteers for the Climate Advisory Team (CAT). They are looking for people familiar with community development, urban forestry, and underserved communities. The team will provide input and guidance for the Environment & Climate Change Program.
The task at hand seems bureaucratic, as it is all about establishing timelines and benchmarks for achieving key outcomes. The team and the city staff will have to determine if the goal of 40% citywide tree canopy cover can be completed by 2050 and be in full compliance with HB 1181 requirements by 2029
In the first three years the NECC Work Plan will include integrating a comprehensive greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventory and forecast and also will integrate emissions reduction target(s); and carbon sequestration targets.
To learn more about the program, click here:
https://cityoflakewood.us/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/2022-05-23-Council-Agenda.pdf
To volunteer for the team contact:
Tiffany Speir, ARPA Program Manager
(253) 983-7702, tspeir@cityoflakewood.us
For more information about people’s response to Climate Change Perception Survey click here:
https://cityoflakewood.us/climatechange/
https://cityoflakewood.us/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/2022-05-23-Council-Agenda.pdf