Last week, the Planning Department hosted a meeting to introduce the Charlestown Navy Yard/ Little Mystic Channel Flood Resilience Mitigation Planning, Feasibility & Design Study, which looks to combat coastal flooding and strengthen the neighborhood’s resilience.
The Planning Department’s website says that this initiative will build on findings from the 2022 Coastal Resilience Solutions for Charlestown and East Boston Phase II report and that the study will, “assess existing conditions and vulnerabilities, and identify ways to protect homes, waterfront properties, historic sites, public spaces, and critical infrastructure.”
“This project is an important commitment that the mayor has made to enhancing climate resiliency, climate justice, and equitable adaptations. It’s critical that we have your participation in shaping the resilient future of this part of the city in Charlestown,” said Kairos Shen, the city’s chief of planning.
Brian Swett, the city’s chief climate officer, shared his excitement for the initiative’s kickoff and emphasized the importance of this work.
“In Boston, coastal resilience is not purely a coastal concern. One-sixth of our land mass is filled tidelands, so it impacts neighborhoods a fair distance from the coast and is absolutely vital to the long-term success, vitality, and life and safety in Boston,” he said.
At the beginning of the presentation, Ksenia Acquaviva, a senior climate and coastal resilience project manager at the Planning Department, discussed general climate resilience in Boston.
First, she highlighted risks from previous storms, which illustrated flooded areas in the city, such as along the harborwalk in the Navy Yard in the winter of 2018.
“In Boston, we experience the effects of climate change on a daily basis. We’re seeing rising sea levels and stronger storms, and they all pose a threat to our communities, open spaces, critical infrastructure, community infrastructure, buildings, and whatnot,” said Acquaviva.
As for what the city is doing to address this, they are using concurrent coastal resilience strategies to respond to today’s storms, this decade’s storms, and storms beyond 2030.
Specifically, strategies to address today’s storms include strengthening protocols and educating residents about emergency preparedness, among other things.
In addressing this decade’s storms, the city wants to complete near-term improvement projects identified in initiatives like Climate Ready Boston, create more open space, and more.
Finally, regarding storms beyond 2030, the city is working on projects like delivering the Coastal Storm Risk Management Plan, which it is working on with the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), among other items.
Acquaviva emphasized that coastal resilience work is a group effort between city, state, and federal agencies. Notably, the city is coordinating with the USACE on all its ongoing projects, including this one.
Eventually, the discussion shifted to Charlestown. Acquaviva said efforts are being guided by the work in phases I and II of the Coastal Resilience Solutions for Charlestown and East Boston report and Climate Ready Boston.
“[We’re] really building on the studies done in Charlestown previously, and the most recent of those is the phase II study,” said Kate Edwards, of Arcadis, which is part of the project’s consultant team.
“This project is going to undertake a process that will refine those alternatives that were presented in that study, engaging residents and stakeholders along the way, evaluating those alternatives, [selecting] a preferred solution, and [moving] that solution to a more detailed design.”
Edwards then dove into more details about this specific project. First, she looked to answer the question: why this project?
She indicated that Charlestown is at risk of two types of flooding and that climate change will worsen it. The first is coastal flooding, which is brought about by storms. The other type is stormwater flooding, from rainwater ponding in low-lying areas.
Moreover, Edwards indicated that the neighborhood is susceptible to fringe flooding, impacting low-lying areas when harbor water levels rise above ground elevation.
However, she also noted that by 2050, this type of flooding could change to flood pathways during storms, which can impact inland areas.
Maps were also shown that illustrated potential 100-year floods—a flood with a 1% chance of happening in any given year—that could bring pathways under the Tobin Bridge by 2050 and pathways into the center of the neighborhood by 2070.
“The long-term risk of flooding is pretty great here in Charlestown, and if we don’t take action, the places we depend on for everyday well-being like our homes, streets we use to get to work, the harborwalk where we exercise, where we get our food at the market could be damaged or disrupted by storms and flooding,” said Edwards.
“So this project really aims to think about what we can do about that,” she added, indicating that work must be done collectively among public and private property owners.
Later, Edwards discussed what the project is and what it entails. First, she highlighted the project area, encompassing the Navy Yard and the neighborhood along the Little Mystic Channel.
It should also be noted that the Boston National Historical Park is also being analyzed as part of a separate process.
The project goals laid out during the presentation are to assess flood risks in the Charlestown Navy Yard and the Little Mystic Channel, align with neighboring projects, evaluate opportunities and constraints in implementing flood protection designs, create flood protection tools for property owners, and identify and develop the design for a preferred long-term approach.
“As we are guided by these goals, our vision is to produce an outcome for Charlestown where communities and structures are protected from near-term and long-term flooding and the waterfront experience is enhanced and accessible,” said Edwards.
Regarding the challenges in creating a design for the project, aspects such as having diverse property ownership and the need to work collectively were mentioned. Ensuring a design is in keeping with the neighborhood’s character, accessible, and ADA compliant was also noted.
In speaking more about design, Edwards stressed the importance of analyzing design flood elevation and how that will be evaluated in determining a solution for the area.
Specifically, the 1% annual chance flood elevations for 2030, 2050, and 2070 exceed today’s land elevation of about nine feet.
While the current goal is to address near-term flooding (around 2030), Edwards indicated that the final design would be adaptable to address future concerns.
Mirit Friedman of Arcadis then highlighted potential design options. One option, Option A, would create protections along the waterfront and the harborwalk, but it would need investment on private property.
The other option, Option B, would follow along public right-of-ways, such as 1st Avenue, and would not provide the same protection as the first option.
“Options A and B each have their sets of tradeoffs that we’re going to explore with you and get your input on throughout this process,” said Friedman, who indicated that the options are starting points and would be fleshed out more over the summer.
Some examples of what these designs could look like on a neighborhood-wide level include Harborview with its elevated harborwalk, and on an individual building level, Spaulding Rehabilitation, through things like elevated mechanical systems and the ground floor.
Following the presentation, attendees were allowed to comment and ask questions. Additionally, polls were conducted throughout the meeting.
To view a recording of the meeting, which contains the discussion and polls, and to keep up with this process, which is projected to last about a year, visit https://www.bostonplans.org/planning-zoning/planning-initiatives/flood-resilience-mitigation-planning,-feasibility.