News & Updates

Boston Living with Water Competition Update

May 29, 2015

Critical thinking and a flood of ideas

In anticipation of the Monday, June 8 Boston Living with Water (BLwW) awards ceremony, we will be providing opinion pieces and news updates to spur critical thinking and conversation around event-related topics.

So what, exactly, will change when Boston’s sea level rises?

We’ve already seen a foot of sea level rise since the late 1880s, enough to overtop some of our seawalls during minor storms and high tides during full- and new moons. But what will happen when, as scientific models predict, Boston Harbor is up to two feet higher by mid-century, or up to six feet higher by 2100? Without substantial investments in new infrastructure and flood resilient design, up to 7% of the city would be expected to flood daily, and up to 30% would flood at least annually.

Major coastal cities like New Orleans and New York have already sustained severe damages in the wake of storm patterns that presented in recent years, resulting in incalculable human and material losses. What can we do to prepare Boston for environmental events? Understanding the anatomy of flooding is a start.

How does the impact of fresh-water flooding differ from salt-water flooding on the built environment?

Coastal flood preparedness is much more challenging than freshwater flood preparedness. Salt water is highly corrosive. Even extreme precipitation events involve finite volumes of water while the ocean contains essentially an infinite volume that cannot be stored and released. Corollary concerns include combined sewer overflows and untreated stormwater entering the harbor, as well as seawater intrusion into stormwater drains.

How do we protect Boston’s transportation tunnels and other below-grade infrastructure from saltwater intrusion? How do we keep our water and sewer system functioning once sea level rise prevents gravity-fed drainage? The wealth of ideas generated by the BLwW design competition, and the discussions that Boston’s planners have been able to engage in with the semi-finalists will inform how we approach solutions to these problems.

Join Mayor Walsh at the Final Awards Ceremony, where a panel of jurors will discuss the selection of winners and lessons learned from the competition.

When:	Monday, June 8th
	6:00 to 8:00 PM
Where:	BSA Space, 290 Congress Street, Boston

Space is limited, so please only RSVP if you plan to attend.

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