Key West Climate Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Plan
OVERVIEW
Located at the end of the Florida Keys Island chain, Key West faces risks from climate change and its low elevation. This exposes the city to sea level rise, storm surge, heavy rain, and high tides, posing challenges to its ability to recover and endure these events. Key West’s popularity, with its tropical climate and scenic surroundings, brings more people, worsening the impact of climate-related events.
To address this, Key West is working on a Climate Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Plan. This initiative, funded by the Florida Department of Commerce Community Development Block Grant Mitigation (CDBG-MIT) Program and the Resilient Florida Grant program, aims to create a roadmap for the city to boost its ability to recover and endure climate events. The goal is to develop a collaborative strategy that deals with various climate risks and meets state legislation requirements. The resulting Climate Adaptation Plan will guide the city’s initiatives, partnerships, and a 10-year strategy for resilience, positioning it for future state and federal funding opportunities.
This project focuses on collaboration and public involvement, bringing together stakeholders like elected officials, local experts, and environmental groups. This inclusive approach ensures both technical expertise and community insight are considered.
CLIMATE VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT
A vulnerability assessment is a methodical way of figuring out how susceptible a community is to negative effects from climate threats. The City of Key West is conducting a Climate Vulnerability Assessment (CVA) to assess the city’s risk to climate threats. This includes evaluating the potential impact, severity, and extent of issues like rainfall flooding, tidal flooding, and storm surge, considering different sea level rise scenarios. The assessment relies on scientific data from sources like the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The focus is on analyzing how these climate threats affect critical assets owned or maintained by the city. The CVA will look at various asset categories such as critical facilities, infrastructure, and natural and cultural resources. It will predict the likelihood and possible impacts for future climate events in the years 2040, 2070, and 2100. This assessment will provide information for informed decision-making, forming the basis for adaptation planning to safeguard critical assets, public services, and safety.
CLIMATE ADAPTATION PLAN
A Climate Adaptation Plan involves getting an asset ready to handle current or future environmental conditions, better preparing it for future climate events. Each action is designed for a specific asset, considering its ability to change in response to a threat, known as adaptive capacity. The City of Key West’s CVA will be the basis for this plan, serving as a roadmap to tackle potential climate threats. The strategies will cover both structural and non-structural measures at both regional and community levels. Key West has identified 7 sectors for prioritizing adaptation actions and 10-Year budget timelines for:
- Infrastructure (Roads/Buildings/Systems)
- Historic/Cultural
- Housing and Shelter
- Power and Water
- Environment
- Economic
- Health and Equity
Prioritizing each action will depend on factors like their potential to reduce risk, practicality, efficiency, and other criteria. The plan will explore various funding options for these measures. By implementing the Climate Adaptation Plan, the City positions itself to identify resources, leverage investments, establish partnerships, and become a stronger community.
This work was funded in part through a grant agreement from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Office of Resilience and Coastal Protection Resilient Florida Program. The views, statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the State of Florida or any of its subagencies.