Climate Resilience
Permanent URI for this collection
Browse
Recent Submissions
Item Flood Risk Perception Survey ReportZinda, Jack; Kay, David; Williams, Lindy; Blakely-Armitage, Robin (New York State Water Resources Institute, 2021)In light of growing concerns about flood risk in the Hudson River Estuary, working together with the Hudson River Estuary Program, we conducted in-depth individual and focus group interviews, as well as a household survey to evaluate flood risk responses in Troy and Kingston. This report summarizes initial findings regarding flood risk exposure, perception, preparedness actions, and views of policy interventions. Regarding exposure, residents of color may be more likely to face risks of flooding. Nearly half of residents are unsure whether they live within the Special Flood Hazard Era defined by the Federal Emergency Management Administration. Flood risk perception is responsive to past experience of flood impacts. Past flood experience predicts flood preparedness actions, with the exception of flood insurance, which is driven by the mandatory purchase requirement of the National Flood Insurance Program. Respondents generally show support for hard infrastructure, living shoreline, and insurance premium offsets for flood preparedness investments, but views on buyouts of flood-prone homes are more mixed. These preliminary findings set the stage for multivariate analyses aimed at understanding the predictors of flood risk awareness and preparedness.Item Evaluation of the effectiveness of green infrastructure for stormwater management in urban Buffalo, NYLowry, Chrisopher; Milleville, Richard (New York State Water Resources Institute, 2022)The city of Buffalo, like many cities along the Great Lakes, relies on a combined sewer network, which joins sewage effluent and stormwater. When the system is overwhelmed, excess water is discharged from outfall locations into local freshwater basins. To reduce unwanted discharge the City and community partners have invested in establishing rain gardens, to mitigate the stormwater volumes that enter the combined sewer network. Rain gardens offer a natural and aesthetically appealing space for surface runoff to enter, prior to runoff into the sewer network. Within the garden boundaries, the water may evapotranspire, naturally recharge into the groundwater, or pond on the surface. Using numerical modeling it is possible to quantify the benefits of these systems. The water balance is solved utilizes input parameters such as soil moisture and soil type using forward and inverse modeling approaches. This research highlights the applicability of modeling water movement through rain gardens in order to optimize stormwater storage. Additionally, different soil type specific parameters were passed through these models to indicate the influence of excess surface water entering gardens via surface runoff. HYDRUS-1D is less equipped for additional large volumes of water, which suggests a combination of groundwater and surface water models might be beneficial for future research efforts.Item Developing a Municipal Downspout Disconnect and Green Infrastructure ProgramFenton, Erin; Hychka, Kristen; Perrault, Meredith (New York State Water Resources Institute, 2020)Runoff from more frequent and higher intensity storms coupled with increased impervious surfaces are causing capacity problems at wastewater treatment plants. Nuisance flooding in roadways and basements is also a result of these storms and constraints on wastewater infrastructure capacity. One solution that municipalities can use to address runoff is to implement residential downspout disconnect and green infrastructure programs. The result is cost savings for wastewater utilities and decreased combined sewer overflow and stormwater runoff in neighborhoods and local waterways.Item Ossining's Waterfront on the RiseCerra, Josh; Zemaitis, Libby; LoGiudice, Elizabeth; Dehm, Tim; Fabis, Elizabeth (New York State Water Resources Institute, 2020)Item Design for Climate-resilient Hudson River CommunitiesCerra, Josh (New York State Water Resources Institute, 2016)This project investigated planning and design implications of emerging municipal climate adaptation interests by developing alternative strategies for a Hudson waterfront location in City of Hudson, New York and a riverside park and open space location in City of Kingston, NY. The project was developed in the Spring 2016 LA6020 second-year graduate design studio and the Fall 2016 LA4010 fourth-year undergraduate studio at Cornell University Department of Landscape Architecture. Each project accessed a climate-adaptive design framework to identify projected climate change hazards, risks, and potential climate adaptation opportunities for these waterfront locations. Each project team reviewed planning and policy documentation, conducted contextual analysis and site reconnaissance, interviewed stakeholders, and shared their initial design conceptswith stakeholders for comment and revision. Each then developed alternative design concepts that address projected climate change risks in combination with the urban revitalization interests and needs of stakeholder interviewees for their respective waterfronts. These concepts included provision for flood-adapted landscapes and structures, waterfront park and open space, green infrastructure, contributions to urban ecosystems, and other features. Final design boards were shared in an open house style format with stakeholders at the end of the studio. The alternative design concepts developed for these locations can serve as case studies for other Hudson Valley municipalities seeking to confront climate risks to their water systems, built environment, ecosystems and community as their municipality changes and grows.Item Assessing the Effectiveness of Green InfrastructureVail, Emily (New York State Water Resources Institute, 2016)Large scale wetland restoration efforts are common worldwide, and often motivated towards regaining lost ecosystem services such as nitrogen (N) removal and carbon (C) sequestration. Despite large monetary investment in wetland construction, research on the capacity for restored wetlands to retain C and remove N in eutrophic environments lags far behind. It is critical, however, to document these ecosystem services to help justify costs of restoration. In 2015-16 NYC Parks completed an assessment of 22 restored tidal wetlands in NYC that included measurements of habitat value and marsh structure but did not quantify N assimilation, N removal, or C sequestration. We measured C and N pools, and N fluxes including denitrification at four restored tidal wetland sites in the Harlem River. We expected differences among sites due to varying ages (4 years to 15 years post-restoration) and associated wetland community development. The results, however, show that there were few differences in wetland structure and function across sites. Rates of denitrification were high at all sites and averaged 465 μmol N m-2 h-1. These rates are higher than other reported values for natural and restored marshes suggesting that restored wetlands are hot spots for N removal in the Harlem River. The wetlands were also a sink for dissolved inorganic N (N retained rather than recycled), however, two of the four sites were sources of reactive P to the ecosystem likely due to reduced sediment. Overall, nitrogen removal and retention at these sites is very high and should be considered an important ecosystem service provided by these restored habitats. We found high above and belowground biomass of the salt marsh plant, Spartina alterniflora, at all sites. The high belowground biomass and accumulation of sediment carbon led to significant C sequestration at each of the sites. The wetlands sequestered an average of 50 metric tons of C per acre which would have an economic value of $2,000 per acre. The C sequestered at Harlem River wetlands is similar to values reported in natural wetlands suggesting this is also an important ecosystem service provided by the restored habitats. Future studies should consider seasonal differences in N cycling to better resolve estimates of annual N removal. Ongoing efforts aim to integrate the data into indices of marsh health with New York City Parks.Item Analyzing the discrepancy between return period stream flows using the TR - 55 Method and USGS recorded stream dischargesTeuffer, Karin (New York State Water Resources Institute, 2016)Stream flows calculated with the TR-55 method and obtained from USGS empirical data were compared for twenty stream gauges and their corresponding watersheds in New York State. The overall differences between the distributions of the two methods were measured using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistic, and 1, 10, and 100 year return period percent differences in flows. The three variables regressed against were average curve number, latitude and drainage area. Multiple linear regression, and lasso and ridge regression showed that none of the predictor variables had significant influence on the difference between modeled and the measured values. Area and latitude have higher correlations with the raw flows for the three return period storms than curve number when analyzed individually. This was not seen in multiple regression and may be representative of a curve number influence on the discrepancy between model and empirical data.Item Land Use/Environmental Planning Field Workshop Activities, Fall 2016 SemesterFrantz, George (New York State Water Resources Institute, 2016)The CRP 3072/5072 Land Use & Environmental Planning field workshop in the Fall of 2016 developed draft scenic resources protection strategies for the Town of Esopus, Ulster County, and the Town of Hyde Park, Dutchess County. The two municipalities are located roughly opposite each other between HRM 77 and HRM 91.Item Troy 2028: Green Infrastructure Scenarios for TroyDavis, Brian (New York State Water Resources Institute, 2016)In 2016, the Hudson River Estuary Watershed Resilience Project continued to support collaborations across Cornell Cooperative Extension of Columbia-Greene, Dutchess, Orange, and Rockland Counties to address the challenges of flooding, stream and watershed management, and climate change. The project serves municipal and landowner audiences in target watersheds in the Hudson Valley. This partnership between the New York State Water Resources Institute (NYS WRI) at Cornell University and Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) is supported by the New York State Department of environmental Conservation’s Hudson River Estuary Program (HREP). The project website is http://hudsonestuaryresilience.netItem Hudson Estuary Watershed Resilience Project: 2016Luoma, Jeff (New York State Water Resources Institute, 2016)