The Public’s Radio — Agency draft plan prioritizes rising sea levels, storm surge, shoreline access among key issues facing RI coast

Beachgoers at the town line between Charlestown Town Beach and South Kingstown on June 27, 2020.
PHOTO BY ALEX NUNES

By Alex Nunes — The Rhode Island agency that manages coastal policy and enforcement is accepting public comment on what it identifies in a draft plan as top issues challenging the Rhode Island coastline.

Coastal Resources Management Council spokesperson Laura Dwyer said the plan identifies nine priority areas, including public access, wetlands, coastal hazards, marine debris, aquaculture, and siting for energy and government facilities.

“This assessment helps us fine tune those areas,” she said, “and also could identify information gaps, areas of need that our coastal program needs to fill in to address.”

The agency is evaluating its management programs and key goals as part of a periodic requirement for certain funding set by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“This is a really great way for us to identify our strengths, maybe any potential weaknesses, or areas we can improve,” Dwyer said of the assessment, which NOAA requires every five years. “What results from that is we continue to get funding for important projects related to those areas.”

The plan, known as the “Draft 309 Assessment and Strategy for Enhancement,” identifies sea level rise, storm surge, and erosion as the most significant coastal hazards facing Rhode Island, and proposes more research and training around shoreline adaptation, among other goals. 

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