The Effects of Sea Level Rise on Wastewater Infrastructure

The Maine Climate Council is forecasting that Maine will likely see between 1.1 and 1.8 feet of relative sea level rise by 2050, and the possibility of 3.0 to 4.6 feet of rise by 2100. To put that into perspective, a 1-foot rise in sea level means a 100-year-storm event can occur every 10 years. This has significant implications for water & wastewater projects which take years to plan and implement. Maeve Carlson (Wright-Pierce) and Kendra Jo Grindle (Island Institute) co-presented a session at the recent Maine Water Environmental Association conference titled “Sound the High Water Alarm: The Effects of Sea Level Rise on Maine’s Wastewater Infrastructure.” They used Vinalhaven, Maine (among others) as an example of a community that is addressing this seemingly inevitable trend of a rising sea level and steps being taken now by forward-thinking communities to prepare and protect their infrastructure. To our knowledge their presentation isn’t posted online. However, they provided a PDF with links to a number of resources including Case Studies, Maine Climate Council’s 4-year action plan, and links to financial resources that are available. If you would like more information on this subject, or would like to take advantage of a Wright-Pierce resiliency study or discuss a mitigation project, please reach out to Maeve Carlson: Maeve.Carlson@wright-pierce.com.