Transcript D03_Leonard Raising the Levee Presentation Revisedx

Dutch Land Use Law as a Model for U.S. Adaptation to
Climate Change
The Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the
United States
 Sea level rise is expected to be most severe along the
Atlantic and Gulf coasts.
 Rising sea levels, a growing population, and increasing
development will stress coastal communities and
habitats
 Aging infrastructure in many eastern cities leaves
them vulnerable to flooding
Case Study: Boston
 A 2005 study by Tufts University indicated that rising sea
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levels and coastal storms could flood downtown Boston,
the Public Gardens, and M.I.T. in the next century
1.5 million people are expected to live along the coast in the
Boston area by 2050
The subway and sewer systems are already 100 years old
Without improvements to infrastructure, flooding is
expected to cause an additional $26 billion in damages
Legal and policy changes focused on practical adaptation
through zoning, building codes, and infrastructure
improvements could reduce overall impact
Case Study: The Midwestern U.S.
 2 “100-year floods” in the
last 20 years
 During floods in the
upper Midwest in 1993,
regional watershed
managers struggled to
coordinate actions
between 6 federal
agencies, 23 state
agencies across 5 states,
and 233 municipalities
•Roughly 50% of the land in the
Netherlands lies at or below sea
level
•60% of the Dutch population lives
at or below sea level
•Nearly 66% of the Dutch GNP is
produced at or below sea level
•The Dutch began erecting dikes
and draining the land to form the
characteristic “polders” of the
Dutch countryside more than 800
years ago
The Great Flood of 1953
 A massive storm surge
caused 89 dikes to fail
 1,800 people died in the
Netherlands
 Led to the construction
of the Deltawerken
(Deltaworks), a massive
series of storm surge
barriers and dikes along
the Dutch coast
The Flood on the Rhine and the
Meuse, 1995
 Both rivers flooded simultaneously
 Existing dikes barely contained the flooding
 200,000 residents were evacuated
 Similar flooding occurred again in 1998
 Led to the current water management system, in
which land is being “given back” to the rivers
The Dutch Response to Climate
Change
 Land use policy is part of the effort to address climate
change
 Goal is to make the country “climate proof”
 The Fourth National Environmental Plan aims to
address sustainable development goals while
simultaneously preventing and adapting to climate
change
Nederland Leeft Met Water (The
Netherlands Lives With Water)
 Historically, Dutch water management policy has
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focused on reclaiming land and keeping the sea out
The new slogan for Dutch water management is
“Water should get space before it takes it!”
With rising sea levels and subsiding land, eventually
the dikes will no longer be tall enough
Storm surge barriers (Deltaworks) ease the impact of
major storms along the coast
Floodplain management slows down river flooding by
giving the water a place to flow
Room For Water
 Each province and locality in the Netherlands must
make room for rivers by considering issues of water
storage and retention
 Conservation land along rivers is being linked to assist
with water management and flood control
 Farmers in the flood plain must accept the possibility
that their land may be flooded
 Communities may no longer build in areas with a high
potential for flooding
The Water Management System
 The priorities of the water management system are to
collect, store, and ultimately discharge water safely
 System is comprised of the national Rijkswaterstaat, 12
provincial water authorities, and 55 local water boards
 Residents, businesses, farmers, and building owners
are represented on local water boards
 The costs of each board are shared among its members
Integration Between National,
Regional, and Local Agencies
 Rijkswaterstaat manages main navigable rivers, canals,
territorial seas, coastal waters and estuaries
 Provincial water authorities control regional navigable
waters
 Local water boards control remaining waters and
advise local land-use authorities
 Land-use authorities are similarly divided, with
limited provisions for the review and reporting of local
land-use decisions to provincial and national
authorities
National Spatial Planning Act
 Passed in 1965, and frequently amended since then
 A comprehensive and decentralized approach to national
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land use
Substantially revised in July 2008 in an effort to simplify
the law
Requires regional and local governments to cooperate with
private actors to determine land use policy
National concerns such as water management,
environment, culture, and landscape are addressed in local
and regional plans
Regional land use plans use tools called the Water
Opportunity Map and the Water Assessment Test to
integrate water management into land use planning
The Water Opportunity Map
 Not legally binding
 Examines land use and water management scenarios
 Used to define and map buffer zones for flooding,
nature conservation areas, and low-lying areas most
vulnerable to flooding
 Effective tool for communicating basic information to
a broad group of stakeholders
The Water Assessment Test
 A procedural law
 Must be employed by all Dutch authorities making
land use decisions
 Similar to the Impact Statement required under the
U.S. National Environmental Policy Act
 Includes a planning checklist and official process that
clarifies the roles of each participant
More on the Water Assessment
Test
 If the plan cannot meet national priorities for water
collection, storage, and safe discharge, the local water
authority must recommend mitigation measures that will
allow the plan to meet those priorities
 No consequences for a land management authority that
decides not to implement the mitigation measures
recommended by the water management authority
 However, land management authority must explain and
justify their reasons for ignoring the water management
authority’s recommendations
Isolated Actors Make a Cohesive
Land Use Policy Difficult to Achieve
 Local governments in the U.S. hold most of the
authority in setting land use policy
 State and federal agencies have most of the
responsibility for disaster planning and response
 The U.S. is more that 236 times larger than the
Netherlands, and has more than 18 times as many
citizens
 Climate and land use issues across the U.S. are diverse
Federal Law
 Cooperation between federal and state governments
characterizes the most successful U.S. environmental
laws (cooperative federalism)
 The Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act are successful
examples of comprehensive regulatory schemes that
vest significant power in state governments
 U.S. laws designed to address land use and disaster
planning suffer from a lack of solid connections
between local, state, and federal government
United States Federal Law: Disaster
Management Act
 The Disaster Management Act provides a basic blueprint
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for integrating federal, state, and local emergency response
and planning
Each state is expected to draft a state-wide, multi-hazard
response plan
States may provide technical assistance to municipalities
interested in developing local plans
All 50 states, and more than 1,100 municipalities, have
submitted disaster management plans to FEMA
Unfortunately, plans are generally reactive rather than
proactive
United States Federal Law: Coastal
Zone Management Act
 The Coastal Zone Management Act provides for the
establishment of state and local coastal management
authorities
 States have employed it to impose moratoria on
construction and repairs in damaged areas following
coastal storms
 States and localities may adapt the federal program to
address specific regional concerns
State Efforts
 States are leading the U.S. effort to develop creative
regional solutions to climate change
 Efforts include creating migration corridors through
conservation land and preventing coastal flooding
through the preservation of wetlands
 By September of 2008, only 8 of the 34 state climate
action plans addressed adaptation to climate change
 Other states are considering adding adaptation
provisions in future revisions to action plans
Local and Municipal Efforts to Plan
for Climate Change
 The U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection
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Agreement is an excellent example of sharing local
best practices
Goal is to reduce each member city’s greenhouse gas
emissions by 7% below 1990 levels by 2012
Some members are developing a regional planning
model
The Council of Governments in Sacramento, CA
includes 6 counties and 22 cities
No emphasis on adaptation yet
Private Approaches
 Private conservation groups are developing land use
strategies for adaptation
 Generally tied to the preservation of an ecosystem or
endangered species
 The Nature Conservancy is acquiring fresh-water
marshes in Maine to find out whether eco-systems can
migrate
 The New England Wildflower society is developing a
seed bank of native flowers
Incorporating a Dutch-Style System
into U.S. Land Use Law
 The practice of cooperative federalism in the Clean Air
Act and Clean Water Act provides a blueprint for a
successful law
 Federal funding could be attached to explicit planning
and adaptation conditions
 Each state could develop an individual plan that
incorporates federal guidelines and regional needs
 Localities would develop plans that incorporate state
guidelines and local needs
Process for Developing a National
Adaptation Plan
Federal Land Use or Adaptation Law
Draft State Plan
Municipal Plans Developed based on Input from Interested Local Parties,
Submitted to State
State Plan Incorporates Local Plans and Input from Interested Regional
Parties into Final Plan
Final State Plan is Submitted to Federal Government for Approval
Could a Dutch-Style Planning
System Work in the United States?
 Any U.S. plan must address a range of adaptation
issues and constituencies
 An integrated approach to planning for adaptation will
require improved collaboration between local, state,
and federal government actors
 A successful system must incorporate local needs
without losing sight of national or regional priorities
 Federal action is unlikely in the current political
climate
 States could successfully employ a Dutch-style system
Damien J. Leonard
[email protected]