On a recent weekday, state Representative Terri Cortvriend climbed the rock outcropping at Surfers End at Sachuest Beach in Middletown. It was raining, and she climbed slowly, her boots seeking traction.
At the top, in every direction, she saw areas that are being impacted by the effects of climate change. To the southwest, she mentioned the houses near the edge of a cliff, surf crashing below. To the east, she pointed out freshwater ponds that provide drinking water that are threatened by salt-water storm surge. To the south, she heard the ocean waves that now frequently flood the roads during storms and high tides, forcing road closures, detours and costly cleanups.
“We’re all going to have to face this, we can see it with our own eyes. We’ve been told for years that it was coming. … I think many of us can agree that it’s here, Cortvriend said. “And I’m just concerned that I want to make sure that the state’s prepared for it in the best way.”
Rhode Island has 420 miles of coastline that are at risk from sea-level rise. According to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, the sea level along the U.S. East Coast is projected to rise, on average, 10 to 14 inches in the next 30 years. That will be as much as the rise over the last 100 years. By the beginning of next century, the sea-level rise may be between six and nine feet.
Transportation infrastructure, septic systems, beaches, historic waterfronts and salt marshes are all at risk. Coastal erosion threatens homes and businesses in South County. Providence’s sewage treatment plant, industrial areas and nearby neighborhoods are at risk from flooding and storm surge. And on Aquidneck Island, flooding and storm surge imperil reservoirs.
“Our freshwater drinking ponds are just beyond this, the buffer of this road, and they are going to be susceptible as the sea level comes up,” Cortvriend said. “And you know, when you get waves crashing over the road, it’s not far from our drinking water. So that’s a concern. And I think that’s part of the resiliency that we need to think about for the future.”
Cortvriend is one of nine co-sponsors of a House bill introduced at the beginning of this legislative session that mandates the creation of a statewide plan to assess the impending impacts and costs of climate change. The plan would likely outline mitigation measures for the state to coordinate with municipalities and identify areas where communities should retreat from the shoreline and places where it may make sense to fortify infrastructure to protect homes and businesses.
Senator Victoria Gu, a Democrat representing Westerly, Charlestown and South Kingstown, has introduced a similar bill in the Senate.
Representative Tina Spears, of Charlestown, is the main sponsor in the House. She’s a first-term state rep who heard from many constituents worried about the effects of sea level rise when she ran for office in 2022. Without a law pushing for a plan, Spears says the state won’t be prepared for the high costs of mitigation and repairs.
“I think law compels us to act, right? We have to … follow the law. In addition to the law, when you create a strategy around resilience as a state, there is a lot of federal opportunity for us to engage in funding,” Spears said.
Spears likens the plan she envisions for coastal resiliency and preparedness to the approach the state took when it assessed its school buildings and its roads and bridges. Those plans identified what needed to be upgraded, what should be torn down, and how much it would cost. She wants the bill she introduced to mandate the same for responding to sea level rise.
“There will be different towns that will do relocation. There will be towns that will do lifting. They’ll elevate. There will be towns that really just prepare with natural dunes and natural interventions, green interventions,” Spears said. “But each town along the coast needs to understand what needs to be done. And it needs to be done in a coordinated fashion.”
The environmental nonprofit Save the Bay is backing the legislation. The group’s executive director, Topher Hamblett, points out that sea-level rise will have a significant effect on the local economy. In addition to jobs from tourism and other industries, property taxes from shoreline homes and businesses are also at risk. Hamblett says better planning can help communities adapt to what will become the new normal.
“Communities should not be left to fend for themselves,” Hamblett said.
He added, “We need science-based, data-based strategies to work with, to plan for this orderly, fair, equitable, thoughtful move away from the coast. So people and infrastructure can be safe, so that the coastal environment continues to thrive and provide what it does for us, which is livelihoods and enjoyment.”
Representative Tina Spears says she will spend the next two months talking with environmental advocates and gathering more supporters to co-sponsor her bill. She’s asking for a committee hearing in March.
