Special to the Times-Free Press

Recently, Boston City Councilor Gabriela Coletta Zapata chaired a hearing to discuss implementing coastal resilience strategies for Boston’s Waterfront. In partnership with dozens of waterfront organizations, Coletta Zapata worked with the Wu administration to establish the Office of Climate Resilience. During the hearing, Councilors learned about their scope of work, emergency preparedness during a hurricane or similar emergency, and efforts to find funding sources to fortify all forty-seven miles of the city’s coastline. The hearing was co-sponsored by Councilor John FitzGerald (District 3).

“Storm surge and severe weather like Hurricane Helene and Milton remind us to move expeditiously to protect Boston’s coastal communities. These climate change-related events threaten our communities, open spaces, and infrastructure. We must fortify our coastline to protect our residents and businesses that stand to be displaced,” said Coletta Zapata. “I’m committed to working with city, state, and federal partners to close funding gaps and implement solutions before it’s too late.” 

Previously, the City of Boston conducted resilience projects on a parcel-by-parcel basis and was largely dependent on subsidies from private development. The city holds ownership of a mere sixteen percent of the coastline, although it is working in collaboration to implement district-wide and larger scale solutions. At the hearing, the Office of Climate Resilience revealed that it is leveraging three approaches to address coastal flooding:

• Ensuring plans are in place before, during, and following a storm;

• Addressing key 2030 footpaths; and 

• Transforming Boston’s forty-seven miles of coastline.

The Office of Emergency Management shared they are conducting climate models to inform critical strategies to address appropriate vulnerability. Additionally, they are coordinating with all city departments to ensure an understanding of what will happen and the best mechanisms to prevent it in the event of a crisis. Subsequently, OEM shared that they cannot meet the need to address extreme weather events and large events and that they require a new command center to support their efforts. 

“Thursday’s hearing was a productive discussion outlining how Dorchester and the city as a whole will continue to prepare ourselves for coastal flooding. I will be using the information from this hearing to engage with residents and businesses on how to better prepare ourselves for the next major coastal flooding event as well as to guide my continued work on the Morrissey Boulevard Commission, a critical project to protect ourselves from future disasters. I look forward to our continued work in protecting Boston’s coastline, and building a more resilient city as a whole.” said Councilor John FitzGerald (District 3).

Members of the administration present included: 

•      Brian Swett, Chief Climate Officer

•      Christopher Osgood, Director of Climate Resilience

•      Matthew Kearney, Deputy Chief of Emergency Management

•      Catherine McCandless, Senior Climate Resilience Project Manager

•      John Sullivan, Chief Engineer, Boston Water and Sewer Commission

•      Rich McGuinness, Director of Coastal Resilience and Infrastructure Delivery, Planning Department

Additionally, Councilors heard public testimony from representatives of partner organizations such as Boston Harbor Now, Stone Living Lab, Conservation Law Foundation, Mystic River Watershed, Save the Harbor/Save the Bay, and InnSure Corp. Waterfront partners advocated for a dashboard of resilience projects through the Office of Climate Resilience and coordination meetings with other municipalities and levels of government. They stressed the importance of community engagement in these efforts.

This docket was referred to the Environmental Justice, Resiliency and Parks chaired by Councilor Gabriela Coletta Zapata (District 1) of East Boston. A recording of the hearing can be found at: youtu.be/XXucM00HDbg 

For additional information, please contact the Office of Councilor Gabriela Coletta by phone at (617) 635-3200 or by email at gabriela.ramirez@boston.gov.