The Olympia Sea Level Rise Collaborative Executive Committee has approved a two-year work plan and budget to advance six key initiatives prioritizing strategies and investment for best responding to sea level rise.
The SLR executive committee, comprised of representatives from the City of Olympia, Port of Olympia, and LOTT Clean Water Alliance, voted unanimously to greenlight the $360,000 biennial plan. According to Braff, the SLR executive committee’s approval of the work plan and budget was the first step. The funding allocations would require approval by each member’s governing bodies.
At the committee meeting on Friday, Olympia’s Climate Programs Director, Dr. Pamela Braff, said that the six key initiatives were pulled directly from the sea level rise response plan. The plan aims to develop an actionable plan to protect downtown from sea level rise by understanding vulnerabilities, identifying priority response actions, estimating costs, promoting responsibilities, and adapting to rising seas.
Braff also requested an $85,000 allocation for administrative support and project management.
Braff presented a table outlining the SLR committee’s six projects and their total budget, which will be shared through 50-25-25 cost allocation, with Olympia covering 50% and the Port of Olympia and LOTT each responsible for 25% of the expenses.
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BobJacobs
All local work on sea level rise to date involves protecting/defending downtown Olympia. But at some point in the future, it will be necessary to retreat. I'd like to see the Collaborative describe what conditions will trigger the switch from defense to retreat. Also how retreat will be accomplished. We should be thinking and planning ahead on this.
Bob Jacobs
Wednesday, September 11 Report this
JnNwmn
The cost of keeping the sewer lines flowing to LOTT with all the combined storm water as the tides get higher will probably take all the funding anyone can come up with and/or any grant money that maybe available. After that it will be the sandbag brigade as a final defense for real estate. 12 inches of sea level rise is predicted in 26 years. But sea level predictions seem to get higher and higher.
Thursday, September 12 Report this
FordPrefect
$360k for bureaucratic machination that doesn’t build anything of intrinsic value. I hereby submit my bid to complete this work for the bargain-basement price of only $330k. I promise that I’ll do a really good job and I’ll do it in half the time. You’ll be able to tell that I did a good job because you paid me to do it. And if you’re not satisfied with that, I’ll even generate a nice .pdf with a lot of graphs and forty pages of incoherent, immeasurable, climate-related platitudes.
In the dirty south, this sort of stuff isn’t actually considered work. It’s called “fixin’ to start” and you’re not supposed to get paid for it.
Climate change might really be a problem. If the Puget Sound rises by several feet Olympia will look different and throwing $360,000 out the window to generate paperwork won’t have changed a damn thing.
Thursday, September 12 Report this
olyhiker
I do not understand why 'they' keep building where it will flood. Crazy.
Thursday, September 12 Report this
CrabbyWill
Yet, they just keep building on fill downtown.
Thursday, September 12 Report this
MrCommonSense
If the work results in a real plan and action; like building berms or dikes around the port and either permanent barriers or barriers deployed only at high tide (as they do in Prague along the river when flooding is expected) to protect downtown, fine. There are a lot of creative examples around the world for flood control. Or just put the $360,000 into the construction fund and place a "protection tax" on the properties that will be affected, then there will be money to complete the construction when/as necessary. Remember, high tides happen twice a day, but only one of them is usually high enough for concern. As for Lott, again, the high tides are only for a couple hours so there should be a common sense solution to that, too.
Olympia spends way too much money studying things(e.g. downtown parking, how many studies and still not a solution?)!! Lotts (pun intended) of wasted money!
Thanks for listening.
Thursday, September 12 Report this
Duffish
It would be interesting to see the cost/benefit analysis comparing retrofitting businesses in the tide flats to deal with sea level rise and physically moving them to areas not impacted
Thursday, September 12 Report this
Southsoundguy
Lol, total scam.
Thursday, September 12 Report this
TomBoucher
Good move. Experts cost money. Well spent.
And dudes didn't just jump on boats for D-Day. --An infantry vet in Tumwater
Dwight D. Eisenhower, the World War II leader and U.S. President, is famously quoted for his paradoxical statement about planning. The most widely cited version of this quote is:
"Plans are worthless, but planning is everything."
This statement encapsulates Eisenhower's perspective on the dual nature of planning, especially in military contexts. He emphasized that while specific plans may become obsolete quickly in the face of real-world challenges, the process of planning itself is invaluable.
Thursday, September 12 Report this