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Meeting
Recap
by
Mae Santos
Unfortunately, our scheduled speaker, Ben Eggertsein, was
unable to attend our luncheon. Susan Cohen, Seattle
City Auditor, was able to step in and give us an impromptu
presentation on the results of her audit on climate change
and how it will financially impact the various departments
of the city of Seattle, particularly the Department of
Transportation.
The audit was conducted to explore how
anticipated changes in the region’s climate could affect the
functions, services, and infrastructure of the Department of
Transportation. The audit focused primarily on impacts of
climate change such as warmer temperatures, rising sea levels
and increased winter precipitation.
This audit is the first audit in a series of
audits to review how changes in the Pacific Northwest region’s
climate will impact the operations and infrastructure of various
City departments.
The series is meant to assist policymakers in our
area in developing adaptive strategies regarding climate change.
Policymakers must focus on two things: prevention and
adaptation. Prevention is action focused on preventing or
slowing climate change by reducing human-generated pollutants
that worsen climate change. Adaptation is the
implementation of strategies to effectively adapt to changes in
climate.
The audit identified five areas that could be
impacted by climate change:
1) Flooding and Landslides - Climate change is expected to cause
increased winter precipitation and more frequent flood and
landslide events in Seattle.
2) Seawall Conditions - Climate change could
cause rising sea levels and coastal inundation.
3) Bridge Conditions - Climate change could
impact Seattle’s bridge conditions as warmer temperatures cause
greater thermal expansion.
4) Roadway Conditions - Increased winter rainfall
and warmer temperatures could cause an increase of potholes and
the crackling and buckling of paved surfaces.
5) Trees and Vegetation in the Public
Rights-of-Way (Urban Forestry) - Climate change will likely
result in increased maintenance requirements for landscaped
areas; impacts on private and public development; and impacts on
fish habitat and water quality.
Several recommendations were made as a result of
the audit relating to the Alaskan Way Seawall replacement,
long-range planning and the creation of an interdepartmental and
regional team to assess climate change impacts.
You can obtain a copy of this report at the
Seattle City Auditor’s website at
http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/audit/. |
