Aquidneck Island Resilience Strategy

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New Strategy Builds Momentum for Resiliency on Aquidneck Island

When strong storms or rising seas threaten an island, the stakes can be higher than usual, as islands intrinsically face the possibility of being cut off from mainland services in times of emergency. CRC — a longtime partner of the Aquidneck Island communities of Newport, Middletown, and Portsmouth, as well as the U.S. Navy and the Aquidneck Island Planning Commission (AIPC) — is working with the Island to help ensure that it is ready to adapt to flooding and erosion, the key impacts of strong storms and sea level rise associated with climate change. A new document, “The Aquidneck Island Resilience Strategy: A Summary,” captures the recommendations arrived at collectively from a year-long, island-wide effort focused on building adaptation into key areas of community life — from public safety, to road maintenance, to business networking, and home protection. Besides the summary document, background papers on some of the issues, such as “Emergency Response and Preparedness” and “Residential Flooding” are publicly available, as are a wider variety of tools, such as the Rapid Property Assessment Tool (Rapid PACE), which are useful for any coastal community working to boost its resiliency.

CRC’s facilitation of the Aquidneck Island Resilience Strategy project has been made possible with the support of Rhode Island Sea Grant, the Prince Charitable Trusts and the van Beuren Charitable Foundation.