Charles River flooding will increase considerably with climate change
Paula Moura | WBUR | November 22, 2022
https://www.wbur.org/news/2022/11/22/report-charles-river-flooding-increase-climate-change
A new report finds communities along the Charles River will experience an appreciable increase in flooding within the next 50 years.
Due to climate change, extreme storms that are less common now are expected to become more frequent and discharge a higher amount of water. Using these existing rainfall predictions, a Charles River Watershed Association report modeled the impact of future storms on 20 towns along the river and found many places where flooding could damage key infrastructure, including in Newton, Dedham, Watertown, Waltham and Wellesley.
“One of the big takeaways was that it is going to take considerable adaptation efforts, considerable investments to be able to address the flooding that this tool tells us is coming,” said Julie Wood, the Charles River Watershed Association’s Climate Compact initiative director. She said the report will help towns to make planning decisions.
The research made clear that the towns need “bold, regional action,” said Wood. “You can’t just do one thing and solve the problem.”
While cities like Boston, Cambridge and Somerville had already produced future flood reports, smaller towns didn’t have climate change rainfall predictions applied to their areas. So 20 towns along the watershed, from Hopkinton to Watertown, joined together and received a grant from the Massachusetts Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness to commission the study on flood impacts and possible solutions.
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