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Home My Public Portal AboutBrewster Coastal Strategy (final)Coastal Adaptation Strategy Town of Brewster, MA September 30th, 2016 Coastal Adaptation Strategy for the Town of Brewster, Massachusetts Developed by: the Brewster Coastal Advisory Group Written by: the Horsley Witten Group, Inc. Technical support from: The Horsley Witten Group, Inc, The Center for Coastal Studies, and LEC Environmental Consultants, Inc. Meeting facilitation and consensus building support from: The Consensus Building Institute Funding from: Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management, and The Town of Brewster, MA Members of the Brewster Coastal Advisory Group (BCAG): Abigail Archer David Bennett Ryan Burch Matt Cannon Alex Carlson Ruth Courtnell Tom Devane Max Dwyer Bob Dwyer James Goodrich Claire Gradone Howard Hayes Kyle Hinkle Pat Hughes Bud Johnson John Lamb Chet Lay Stephen McKenna Mary O'Neil Donald Poole Chris Powicki Jonathan Rice Joe Rinaldi Cindy Roth Active liaisons from Town committees and boards: Hal Minis – Bikeways Committee Andrea Nevins – Council on Aging Eric Levy – Department of Conservation and Recreation Chris Miller – Natural Resources Department Elizabeth Taylor – Open Space Committee Pat Hughes – Selectmen Cindy Bingham – Selectmen Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy September 30, 2016 i Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy September 30, 2016 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................... 1 2. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 7 3. COMMUNITY OVERVIEW ...................................................................................................... 10 3.1 Background .................................................................................................................... 10 3.2 Community Perspectives ................................................................................................ 11 3.2.1 Brewster Coastal Beach Access Survey ................................................................. 11 3.2.2 Community Visioning Session Input ...................................................................... 13 4. GUIDING PRINCIPLES ........................................................................................................... 15 5. OVERVIEW OF COASTAL THREATS ...................................................................................... 16 5.1 Coastal Processes ........................................................................................................... 17 5.1.1 Erosion and Accretion............................................................................................. 17 5.1.2 Storm Surge ............................................................................................................ 19 5.1.3 Sea Level Rise......................................................................................................... 20 5.2 Visualizing the Shoreline and Threats ........................................................................... 22 5.2.1 Maps ........................................................................................................................ 22 5.2.2 Other Visuals .......................................................................................................... 23 6. TOWN-WIDE ISSUES AND STRATEGIES ................................................................................. 25 6.1 Town-Wide Issues .......................................................................................................... 25 6.2 Town-Wide Strategies .................................................................................................... 30 6.2.1 Alternative Access to Town Landings .................................................................... 30 6.2.2 New Access Locations in Adapting to the Future .................................................. 31 6.2.3 Access for Emergency Vehicles and Shellfishing .................................................. 31 6.2.4 Access for Individuals with Limited Mobility ........................................................ 31 6.2.5 Beach Management and Restoration ...................................................................... 32 6.2.6 Wetland Resource Adaptation ................................................................................ 32 6.2.7 Ongoing Analysis of Climate Impacts .................................................................... 32 6.2.8 Ongoing Adaptive Management ............................................................................. 33 6.2.9 Prioritization of Future Projects .............................................................................. 33 7. IMPACTS TO TOWN LANDINGS AND BEACHES ..................................................................... 33 8. IMPLEMENTATION RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................. 38 8.1 Clarify the Task and Support of the Coastal Committee ............................................... 38 8.2 Implementation of the Management Plan ...................................................................... 39 8.3 Public Engagement ......................................................................................................... 39 9. ADDITIONAL GROUP AND PARTICIPANT SUGGESTIONS ...................................................... 40 9.1 Town-wide Issues and Strategies ................................................................................... 40 Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy September 30, 2016 ii 9.2 Landing-by-landing Strategies ....................................................................................... 43 9.2.1 Strategies Recommended by the Small Groups during the BCAG Meeting .......... 44 9.2.2 Further Small Group Suggestions (not discussed by the full group) ...................... 45 9.2.3 Additional Suggestions from Individual BCAG Participants (not discussed by the full group) ............................................................................................................................. 47 9.2.4 Further Recommendations ...................................................................................... 49 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................. 52 APPENDIX A– LANDING PROFILE MATRIX APPENDIX B – VISUAL REPRESENTATIONS OF COASTAL IMPACTS APPENDIX C – SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION FROM PARTICIPANTS AND SMALL GROUPS FIGURES Figure 1 Brewster Public Properties and Wetlands ........................................................................ 8 Figure 2 Brewster Historical Coastline Change: 1951 – 2009 ..................................................... 18 Figure 3 Monthly Mean Sea Level at the NOAA Tidal Gauge in Boston .................................... 21 Figure 4 Visual Representation of Potential Coastal Flooding at Mant’s Landing. ..................... 24 Figure 5 Visual Representation of Potential Coastal Flooding at Crosby Landing ...................... 24 Figure 6 Road and Catch Basin Flooding ..................................................................................... 27 Figures B1 through B10 in Appendix B represent the coastal flooding scenarios at each of the landings TABLES Table 1 SLOSH Model Results for the Brewster Coast on Cape Cod Bay .................................. 19 Table 2 Global Sea Level Rise Scenario Overview ...................................................................... 20 Table 3 Relative Sea Level Rise - NOAA Boston Gauge (proxy for Brewster) .......................... 22 Table 4 Paine's Creek Potential Impacts ....................................................................................... 34 Table 5 Mant's Landing Potential Impacts ................................................................................... 34 Table 6 Saint's Landing Potential Impacts .................................................................................... 35 Table 7 Breakwater Landing Potential Impacts ............................................................................ 35 Table 8 Breakwater Beach Potential Impacts ............................................................................... 36 Table 9 Point of Rocks Potential Impacts ..................................................................................... 36 Table 10 Ellis Landing Potential Impacts ..................................................................................... 37 Table 11 Linnell Landing Potential Impacts ................................................................................. 37 Table 12 Crosby Landing Potential Impacts ................................................................................. 38 Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 1 September 30, 2016 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Town of Brewster’s Coastal Adaptation Strategy (the “Strategy”) is a framework for future decision-making about Brewster’s public coastal areas. It will assist the Town in meeting the diverse access needs of the community and adapting to coastal change, sea level rise, storm surge, and shoreline erosion. In response to high levels of public interest regarding coastal issues, and to ensure that the Strategy reflects community wisdom and scientific information, the Brewster Board of Selectmen convened the Brewster Coastal Advisory Group “BCAG” to engage residents and stakeholders in a public process – incorporating vulnerability and risk information with public needs, concerns, and values. Members of the BCAG were selected, based on applications of interest, to represent a range of perspectives, demographics, and points of view within the community. The BCAG also included all members of the Town’s established Coastal Committee, which was suspended during this process. The Selectmen’s goal for the BCAG was “to develop and publicly present a set of strategies and mechanisms to address key community vulnerabilities, issues, and priorities and to identify the community’s preferred adaptation strategies.” With support from professional consultants in facilitation and environmental science, the BCAG convened for eight public meetings between February and September 2016, with a public visioning session in April. During those meetings, BCAG members examined coastal conditions and threats (including predicted climate change impacts) and community needs. The group identified and refined a set of guiding principles, and explored potential strategies for applying these at both the town-wide and landing-by-landing levels. Although the group did not have time to reach consensus on all aspects of the report, they were able to guide its development, to reach consensus on a set of guiding principles, many town-wide approaches for coastal adaptation, and a set of recommendations to guide next steps and implementation. In addition, the group has collected a set of additional suggestions – including ideas for landing-specific approaches – that they developed in assigned smaller working groups or as individuals, and are included in this report to inform on-going planning. The Strategy is intended to lay the groundwork for future discussions and the development of an implementation plan – the Brewster Coastal Resource Management Plan. Furthermore, the Strategy will set the stage for the legal and regulatory changes that are likely to be necessary to implement adaptation approaches. Prior to the completion of the Management Plan, the Strategy can guide the incorporation of climate resilience and community values into proposed town projects. Finally, the document may assist the Town in identifying and applying for additional funding to improve the Town’s climate resilience and appropriately respond to community access needs. Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 2 September 30, 2016 The Strategy includes: • A consensus statement of the core, guiding principles that collectively articulate the BCAG’s vision and values for the management of Brewster’s public coastal areas; • An analysis of coastal vulnerabilities and potential impacts from sea level rise and storm surge on a landing-by-landing basis; • A summary of findings from a taxpayer and visitor survey on public beach use and access needs; • A preliminary analysis of potential approaches which have promise for meeting the core principles, and • Consensus recommendations for action steps to translate the strategy into an effective plan that can be implemented. The following highlights the vision, guiding principles, and key consensus recommendations for future decision-making for Brewster’s public coastal areas. Vision The Town of Brewster will preserve and protect the community’s coastal resources and expand access to its public beaches through public consensus, and in ways that preserve the natural habitat and peaceful character of the coastal environment and coastal neighborhoods, respect the overall coastal and land-based ecosystem, and adapt to long-term projections for coastal change. Guiding Principles These guiding principles were developed through a public visioning session and refined by the BCAG over multiple meetings. All decisions made about the future of Brewster’s public coastal areas should uphold the following community values, priorities, and desires (listed in no particular order): • Access: Maintain and expand the opportunities for all to access Brewster’s public beaches year-round. Meet peak season access needs by exploring opportunities at all public access points, and through alternative means, including off-site parking, improved biking and pedestrian access, and investigation of shuttle options. Also consider those with limited mobility and users of wheelchairs, families, commercial and recreational shell-fishermen, and emergency access, and the safety needs of providing and balancing this access for all. • Natural Beauty: Protect and maintain the natural beauty, non-commercial, peaceful, quiet, spacious, and “small feel” of Brewster’s coast, beaches, and coastal neighborhoods, and safeguard their long-term significance for town residents and visitors. Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 3 September 30, 2016 • Science-based, innovative, and realistic: Seek long-term solutions based on the best available science that are innovative, realistic, and achievable; that work along with nature and build climate resiliency today and into the future; and that are both environmentally and fiscally sustainable. • Holistic: Protect the whole coastal system, including beaches and dunes, wildlife habitat, salt marshes, and other ecosystem services. Seek actions appropriate to coastal projections and community needs that build on and enhance the coast as well as the ecosystem as a whole. • Adaptive: Recognize that the changing nature of coastal resources requires flexibility and adaptive planning, with ongoing monitoring of changing conditions and community needs, to best respond to new technologies, opportunities, and scientific uncertainties. • Consensus-based: Provide for public input and build community consensus through all phases of the planning and implementation of the Coastal Adaptation Strategy. Overview of Climate Impacts on Brewster’s Coastline The Town of Brewster has 7 miles of coastline on Cape Cod Bay. Extensive sections of the coast have historically and recently been exposed to storm surge impacts, including dune washover, flooding, and significant erosion. A recent sediment budget evaluation for the Town conducted by the Center for Coastal Studies (CCS, 2015) indicates that sediment is transported eastward from Dennis to Orleans along the Brewster coastline due to a northwesterly prevailing wind direction and its associated wind waves. This study also indicates that while within the Town of Brewster overall, sediment deposition dominates over erosion, most of the sediment deposition has occurred offshore rather than along the shoreline. In developing this Strategy, Brewster’s shoreline conditions were evaluated and mapped under changing climate scenarios taking into account erosion and accretion along the coast, as well as sea level rise and storm surge impacts. The BCAG evaluated information and analyses from a number of sources, including, Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management Program’s shoreline change data; the Center for Coastal Studies’ sediment budget for Brewster; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) tidal gauge data; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) modeling for storm surge and sea level rise and the 2012 U.S. National Climate Change Assessment. Based on this evaluation, the Brewster BCAG chose the following timeframes and future scenarios for the mapping and analyses of sea level rise and storm surge impacts on Brewster’s coast: • Time horizons of 20 years and a one foot rise in sea level, 40 years (~ two feet), and 60 years (~ four ft) to provide for both short- and long- term impacts, and • Storm surge levels of two, four, and eight feet. Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 4 September 30, 2016 Sea level rise and storm surge inundation were mapped for the Town’s public landings using these scenarios. The worst case condition of eight feet of inundation represents a combination of four feet of sea level rise and four feet of storm surge. The town landings experiencing the greatest impacts with eight feet of inundation include Paine’s, Mant’s, Breakwater Beach, Linnell and Crosby Landings. Overview of Community Perspectives Input from residents, non-resident taxpayers, and visitors on Brewster’s coastal resources was gathered through a town-wide survey on the use of the beaches in the summer season and at a community visioning meeting on April 26, 2016. The online link to the town-wide survey was shared with a total of 7,380 residents, non-resident taxpayers, and visitors and 2,060 people responded. Respondents had the choice of responding to each of the 26 questions or not. The results presented below reflect the percentage of people who selected an option compared to the total number of survey participants (i.e., including people who did not respond to a particular question). Illustrative results indicate the following. • People value the tidal flats, the natural setting of beaches and surrounding areas, the wildlife and untouched beauty, and the lack of commercial development. • At present, 82% of people typically drive to the beach in summer; 29% walk and 24% bike (9% of survey participants did not answer this question). When asked to select the option they use most often to get to the beach, 73% indicated that they drive or carpool, 13% walk, 3% bike, and less than 1% take either the bus or some other mode of transportation, such as a boat (9% of survey participants did not answer this question). • In response to the question of what alternatives they would be willing to consider for accessing the beach, 38% of survey participants indicated a willingness to use shuttle service from satellite parking over a half mile to the beach, 34% were willing to walk from satellite parking up to a half mile from the beach, 19% said they would be willing to bike between 0.5 and 2 miles from satellite parking to the beach, and 38% of survey participants did not answer the question. In a subsequent question on willingness to use a shuttle based on travel time, 38% of survey participants said they would not use a shuttle, 28% would consider using a shuttle if travel time was 5-10 minutes, 14% would consider a 10-20 minute travel time, and 4% would consider a travel time over 20 minutes (15% did not answer the question). The community visioning session was designed to allow small groups to provide their insights on what is important to them on Brewster’s coastline and how the Town should proceed with future plans. The small groups reported that: Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 5 September 30, 2016 • The natural, quiet, un-crowded nature of the beaches is important and the coastal ecosystems found along the coast should be protected; • Future decisions regarding the Town’s access to the coast should be based on the best available data, recognizing that the science of climate change will advance over time; • Alternative access, including walking trails, bicycle lanes and a shuttle from satellite parking areas should be evaluated; • The Town should continue to provide access for those with limited mobility, including visual access to the shoreline; and • The Town should continue to engage the public in future decisions regarding the Town’s beach access. Key Recommendations A. Adaptation Strategies The following adaptation strategies were developed through the BCAG discussions consistent with the Guiding Principles: • Evaluate and expand safe bike routes to town landings, and develop additional walking trails and safe pedestrian access. • Evaluate public and public/private opportunities for satellite parking and shuttle access, including potential parking areas and proposed shuttle routes. • Assess opportunities for future town access points, including through state- and town- owned land, and through identification of parcels for future acquisition. • Support and protect coastal access for shellfish aquaculture and harvesting, and for emergency access. • Broaden and improve access (including visual) for individuals with limited mobility. • With periodic review of the management plans and methods, continue ongoing beach nourishment and dune protection projects (sand fencing, planting). • Identify opportunities to promote and support wetland retreat to preserve the values that coastal wetland provides for mitigating storm impacts. • Continue to conduct and gather additional data, research, and analyses on the impacts of climate change. • Use adaptive management techniques to evaluate and update strategies. Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 6 September 30, 2016 • Focus future access projects on underutilized beaches to avoid overcrowding. Most of these strategies will apply to one or more individual town landings as explained further in the report. B. Institutional Responsibilities The Brewster Coastal Committee has been given the responsibility for developing the Town’s Coastal Resource Management Plan. The Coastal Committee charge should be changed to incorporate the following: • Develop a Brewster Coastal Resource Management Plan, drawing on the Coastal Adaptation Strategy and evaluating coastal actions based on the guiding principles of the Adaptation Strategy; • Integrate robust public participation in all phases of its work; • Coordinate planning and implementation across institutional boundaries (Incorporate climate change and adaptation strategies into policies, plans, and regulations. Many town departments, committees, and boards would be involved in developing, implementing, and monitoring the Brewster Coastal Resource Management Plan); • Monitor changing coastal conditions and evolving community needs; and • Monitor and evaluate implemented adaptation strategies. The Board of Selectmen should examine the membership of the Coastal Committee and evaluate if additional support, such as liaisons from town boards would be useful. The Selectmen should also ensure the Committee has the necessary resources to complete their work. C. Public Engagement • Employ robust public engagement to actively involve citizens in the development of the Brewster Coastal Resource Management Plan. • When developing significant coastal projects, engage in a pre-regulatory and pre- decisional public process as early as possible in the development of the project. Best practices for public engagement include engaging members of the public and interested stakeholders in constructive and exploratory discussion of project goals; exploration of a range of potential strategies, evaluation of options using the guiding principles, and collaboration to seek an approach that balances the priorities and trade-offs. Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 7 September 30, 2016 2. INTRODUCTION One of the regular discussions in Brewster centers on access to the Cape Cod Bay coast, particularly in the summer. Many of the Town’s access points are small, while some of the larger public beaches appear to be under-utilized or difficult to access. In the summer season, particularly on weekends, public parking areas do not provide the level of access desired by Brewster residents and visitors. The Town will need to adapt and strategize to meet these current and future needs and desires as continuing sea level rise, storm damage, and erosion affect the Town’s ability to provide and maintain access. The analyses and recommendations provided below focus on Brewster’s town-owned landings, beaches, parking areas, and publically-owned lands in the immediate vicinity of town landings and beaches. The Town of Brewster has been, and continues to be very pro-active about managing its coastal resources for the enjoyment of residents and tourists alike. These resources include seven miles of coastline on Cape Cod Bay and 10 town-owned parking areas/landings for beach access, with one additional public beach with no public parking (Wing Island). While access to the coastal resources is available from each public landing, it may be limited or challenging for some people (e.g., those with limited mobility). Figure 1 identifies the location of each of the 11 town landings, as well as town and state-owned properties, and regulated wetland areas. In the past five years, extensive parts of coastal Brewster have been exposed to storm surge impacts, including dune washover, flooding, and significant erosion. In some areas, up to 20 feet of dune/coastal bank have been lost in a single storm event. In addition to existing flooding during storms, the Town’s shoreline is generally eroding while sediment deposition occurs offshore (Center for Coastal Studies, 2015), and sea level is predicted to rise up to six feet over the next century (Parris et al., 2012). There are also indications that climate change may bring stronger and more frequent storms. These existing and future coastal and climate processes indicate that Brewster’s coastal resources are under threat. Therefore, the Town is faced with the challenge of accommodating access to its coastal resources while access is impacted and potentially reduced by coastal and climate processes such as erosion and increasing sea levels. ^^^ ^^ ^ ^ ^^ ^ ^ ±Town of Brewster Public Properties & Wetlands Figure 1 LittlePleasantBay Cape Cod Bay Legend Town Landing Roads State-owned parcels Town-owned parcels Wetlands Town of Brewster ^ 0 .75 1" = .75 miles Document Path: H:\Projects\2015\15153 Brewster Coastal Adaptation Plan\GIS\Maps\160804_PublicProp_Wetlands.mxd Wing Island Paine's Creek Mant's Landing Saint's Landing Breakwater Landing & Breakwater Beach Point of Rocks Ellis Landing Spruce Hill Linnell Landing Crosby Landing Date: 9/30/2016 Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 9 September 30, 2016 In 2013, the Brewster Board of Selectmen established a seven-member Coastal Committee, charged with developing a management plan for Brewster's coastal resources. In 2015, the Town started a consensus building process to develop this Coastal Adaptation Strategy with a focus on public participation and involvement. Building on the strengths of the Coastal Committee, and with support from the Consensus Building Institute (CBI) for public engagement, the Town identified relevant stakeholder groups and their representatives to form the Brewster Coastal Advisory Group (BCAG). The BCAG worked with the Board of Selectmen’s goal to: Develop and publicly present a set of strategies and mechanisms to address key community vulnerabilities, issues, and priorities and to identify the community’s preferred adaptation strategies. The consensus building process was informed by a technical team composed of the Horsley Witten Group, Inc. (HW), the Center for Coastal Studies (CCS), and LEC Environmental (LEC). The BCAG met on a regular basis to develop this strategy. All meetings were open to the public, and most of them were available live on the local cable channel. At each meeting, the technical team researched, prepared, and presented information relevant to the Town about coastal processes, sea level rise, and other threats to the coast, as well as potential impacts from those threats, with a focus on public properties in general, and town landings in particular. The purpose of the technical information was to inform the BCAG and support the group in developing this strategy. Throughout the process, the BCAG worked to identify principles to guide decisions about the future of Brewster’s public coastal areas (the guiding principles are provided in Section 4). To further inform the public and understand various community perspectives, the Town conducted an online coastal access survey advertised through postcard mailings to taxpayers, emails to visitors who had purchased a beach sticker the prior year, and distribution throughout Town. The survey, which went live in November 2015, was very well received: over 2,000 responses were submitted to the survey, representing a 29.5% response rate. An overview of survey results is provided in Section 3.2.1 to this document. Additional details of survey results specific to each of the landings are provided in the last three columns of the landing profile matrix in Appendix A. This document provides a community overview (Section 3), including background to town efforts to protect and maintain its coastal resources and community perspectives; the guiding principles underlying this Strategy (Section 4) developed through a public visioning session and refined by the BCAG over multiple meetings; an overview of coastal threats faced by the Town (Section 5), including coastal processes such as erosion, storm surge, and sea level rise; town- wide issues and strategies (Section 6); landing impacts (Section 7), implementation recommendations (Section 8), and additional group and participant suggestions (Section 9). Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 10 September 30, 2016 3. COMMUNITY OVERVIEW This section provides background on the Town’s coastal resources, including some history of pro-active measures taken by the Town to manage and protect its coastal resources; as well as a summary of perspectives of residents and non-residents on Brewster’s coastal resources taken from a recent Coastal Beach Access Survey, and a Community Visioning Session held in April 2016. 3.1 Background Brewster’s beaches are attractive to residents and visitors alike, and are an important component of the Town’s economy. The Town’s landings are used for a broad range of summer and year- round activities, including sunbathing, swimming, kayaking, hiking, commercial and recreational shellfishing, emergency access for boats and vehicles (e.g., fire, rescue), as well as marsh access and anchorages. Activities best suited for each of the town landings are described in the landing profile matrix in Appendix A. The Town of Brewster has been, and continues to be very pro-active about managing its coastal resources for the enjoyment of residents and tourists alike. The Town has purchased and protected almost all of the salt marsh in its two estuaries: Quivett/Paines Creek at the west bordering Dennis, and Namskaket at the east, bordering Orleans. These marshes provide significant ecosystem services that are important to protect as sea level rises. The Quivett/Paines Creek saltmarsh system has a conservation restriction granted to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EOEEA), while the Namskaket marsh is a part of the Inner Cape Cod Bay Area of Critical Environmental Concern. The Town has also worked, and continues to work to restore, improve, and adapt its landings following damaging storm events. The Town’s efforts have ranged from regular maintenance (e.g., replacement of missing boardwalk planks, beach nourishment), to improved access for limited mobility beach-goers (e.g., boardwalks and handicap platforms, beach wheelchair available for public use), to engineered solutions to address structural damage. For example, the Town: • Improved stormwater drainage at Saint’s Landing by constructing infiltration galleries, and adding an overflow pipe for stormwater management, • Removed the tidal restriction and relocated the parking lot (managed retreat) at Paine’s Creek following a destructive storm that severely damaged the parking lot, and • Restored and protected the dune (e.g., fencing, plantings) and relocated the parking area for added storm protection at Breakwater Beach. Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 11 September 30, 2016 Most of the Town’s efforts have been widely supported by the community, but one of the more recent projects generated some controversy, which led to the Town’s efforts to build consensus and develop this Strategy. Summary descriptions of recent storm impacts and town actions at each of the landings are provided in the landing profile matrix in Appendix A. 3.2 Community Perspectives The Coastal Adaptation Strategy sought to combine the best possible science about coastal threats with the values, concerns, and needs of the broad Brewster community. This section provides an overview of the data developed or examined by the BCAG about the perspectives of residents and non-residents on Brewster’s coastal resources – what they value about these resources, how they use and access them, and how they want to see these resources managed and protected into the future. 3.2.1 Brewster Coastal Beach Access Survey The purpose of the Brewster Coastal Beach Access Survey was to “survey residents, non- residents, taxpayers, and visitors on their use of public coastal beaches in the ‘summer’ season in order to inform decisions and plans going forward regarding beach access and coastal management.” Methodology At the request of the Board of Selectmen, the Town Administrator appointed a five-member beach survey work group charged with developing and administering the survey. The group consisted of the then- Town Planner, three residents experienced in survey development, and the Coastal Training Coordinator for the Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. The work group prepared a draft survey that was beta-tested with over 75 members of the community. Based on their review, the survey was revised, reviewed by a nationally-recognized survey expert, and finalized. In January 2016, 6,841 Brewster resident and nonresident taxpayers were sent postcards with the link to the on-line survey, and the survey link was also emailed to 139 visitors to the beach sticker office from the previous year. In addition; another 400 postcards were distributed around Town, for a total target audience of 7,380. There were 2060 responses to the survey, a 28% response rate. The results presented herein reflect the percentage of people who selected an option compared to the total number of survey participants (i.e., including people who did not respond to a particular question). Survey participants fell in the following categories: • 47% were year round residents, 40% part-time, 2% visitors, and 11% did not answer the question; Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 12 September 30, 2016 • 47% were female and 41% male, and 12% did not answer the question; • The majority of respondents (77%) were age 50 or over, and 12% did not answer the question; • 24% reported having two or more children in their household, and 14% did not answer the question. Key Findings from the Survey 1 • Approximately 81% of participants have an excellent or good experience visiting Brewster’s coastal beaches, and 13% did not answer the question. • People value the tidal flats, the natural setting of beaches and surrounding areas, the wildlife and untouched beauty, and the lack of commercial development. • Respondents’ favorite beaches (the beach they like most and prefer to visit) are Crosby (28%), followed by Paines Creek (14%) and Breakwater Beach (12%). Other landings scored less than 10% and 11% percent of survey participants did not answer the question. The beaches with the lowest percentage responses are Wing Island, Breakwater Landing (also known as Little Breakwater), and Spruce Hill. • During the summer season, 72% of participants visit the beach at least once per week (10% of participants did not answer the question), and 69% use the beach both weekdays and weekends (9% of participants did not answer the question). Respondents reported using a wide range of beaches (not just the favorite ones) at various times of day to pursue a variety of activities. • Tide is not a major factor in when people go to the beach, according to 61% of survey participants (7% did not answer the question). However, more people reported visiting the beach during low tide than high tide. • Walking was identified as the most favorite activity (83%), followed by swimming (69%), sunset watching (65%), sunbathing (62%), quiet time/reflection (61%), and family time (54%). Additional activities include shellfishing, paddling, and picnicking. Only 6% of participants did not answer the question. Getting to the Beach in the Summer Season Respondents were asked to identify the method(s) they typically use to get to the beach in the summer season, with a number of respondents using more than one method. Driving to the beach is used by 82% of participants, walking by 29% of participants, and biking by 24% of participants (9% of participants did not answer the question). When asked to select the one option they use most often to get to the beach, 73% indicated that they drive or carpool, 13% 1 Some questions to the survey allowed respondents to select more than one answer, in which case reported totals do not add up to 100% across all answers. Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 13 September 30, 2016 walk, 3% bike, and less than 1% take either the bus or some other mode of transportation, such as a boat (9% of participants did not answer the question). Challenges Encountered at the Beach in the Summer This question provided multiple choices as an answer including: challenges encountered at the beach ‘frequently’, ‘occasionally’, ‘rarely’, and ‘never.’ When viewing the results for the challenges encountered frequently, 44% of participants indicated a lack of parking, 13% cited overcrowding, 8% cited a lack of handicapped access, and 4% cited a long distance to walk from the parking area to the sand (12 % of participants did not answer the question). Alternative Options for Coastal Access In response to the question of what alternatives they would be willing to consider for accessing the beach, 38% of survey participants indicated a willingness to use shuttle service from satellite parking over a half mile to the beach, 34% were willing to walk from satellite parking up to a half mile from the beach, 19% said they would be willing to bike between 0.5 and 2 miles from satellite parking to the beach, and 38% of survey participants did not answer the question. In a subsequent question on willingness to use a shuttle based on travel time, 38% of survey participants said they would not use a shuttle, 28% would consider using a shuttle if travel time was 5-10 minutes, 14% would consider a 10-20 minute travel time, and 4% would consider a travel time over 20 minutes (15% did not answer the question). Preferences and factors important to using a shuttle service The top preferred beaches for taking a shuttle are Crosby, Paine's Creek, Breakwater Beach, and Linnell. Factors important to those who would use a shuttle include: schedule, ability to take beach equipment, convenience of boarding locations, travel time, and shuttle ticket price. Over half of the people who responded to the question on factors for determining whether they would use/not use a shuttle made cost-related comments, including that there not be a cost to taxpayers and that the shuttle costs be built into the price of a beach sticker. Environmental Concerns When asked about which environmental factors could impact access and use of the coast in the future (multiple factors could be selected by respondents), beach and dune erosion was selected by 56% of participants, storm damage by 52%, pollution of natural habitat by 45%, and rising sea levels by 28%. Nine percent were not sure, and 16% of survey participants did not answer the question. 3.2.2 Community Visioning Session Input On April 26, 2016 the BCAG held a community visioning session in the Brewster town offices. The objectives of the Public Visioning Workshop were to: Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 14 September 30, 2016 • Introduce the BCAG, their charge and goal to create the Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy, • Engage in public discussion about Brewster’s changing coastline and development of the coastal adaptation strategy to prepare for those changes, and • Provide a forum for the public to share their hopes, concerns, and priorities for the future of Brewster’s coastal areas. In addition to those who were in the room, CBI set up on-line access for those who were watching the meeting. A real-time poll of all participants showed that 47% of the visioning session respondents were 65 years of age or older; 66% of the visioning session respondents were male, and 72% of the visioning session respondents live in Brewster year-round. After several presentations which focused on the role of the BCAG, the challenges facing the coast, and a summary of the Brewster Coastal Access Survey described above, workshop participants broke into small groups of 5-8 and discussed the following three questions in the room, or on a conference call if participating remotely: 1. What do you value most about Brewster's coast and beaches? 2. What are you most concerned about or worried about happening in the Town's beach areas or landings? 3. What do you want the Coastal Adaptation Strategy to preserve, protect, or enhance? Groups were facilitated by members of the Advisory Group, who also documented the conversations and summarized 2-3 key points from their group discussions at the conclusion of the session. The following points were made during the key point summaries, listed in no particular order: • Protect the aquifer because of its link to the marshes and natural habitat. • Don’t take short-term solutions that have long-term impacts – look at the bigger picture and develop a long-term sustainable solution. • There is a need for inland bike or walking trails for people who live away from the beach but would like safe walking and biking routes to access the beaches. • Look for innovative solutions and allow them to be used • Preserve the quiet, natural, non-commercial, and un-crowded nature of the beaches • It is important to protect the whole coastal system and natural environment, including inland areas away from the beach. • Access should not be the only focus; parking near the beach is not key, but we do need smoother ways to get people there. Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 15 September 30, 2016 • Are we doing all we could to collect data to make the best possible decision, knowing a hurricane tomorrow could have a major impact. • We need to think about abatement of existing development so that we do not create adverse impacts as sea level rises. • Prevent overdevelopment of the coastline and protect and preserve open space strategically. • Be sure we consider impacts on habitat and salt marshes as sea level rises. • The public needs to be engaged early and often in decision making that is happening, not just in special grant funded processes, but in decision making processes that are executed on various town boards. • Keep in mind that not all people can walk to the beach; there are a lot of people that have to drive to the beach and it is a revenue generator for the Town. • Consider available parking spaces or shuttle capacity compared to the capacity of the beach, you cannot fit 200 people on a beach that will be crowded with 50 people. • Whatever we do going forward, it should be done fairly and not based solely on economics. • Consider the issue of pollution, which seems to increase with increases in coastal flooding. • Lack of access to viewing the beach, especially for older people. • Include places for easy access for the disabled and elderly (e.g., for people in wheelchairs, platforms or benches would be nice where they can see the water). • More passive access to the beach is needed too – not just parking, but extension of the bike path and walking paths. 4. GUIDING PRINCIPLES These guiding principles were developed through a public visioning session and refined by the BCAG over multiple meetings. The BCAG reached a consensus that all decisions made about the future of Brewster’s public coastal areas should uphold the following community values, priorities, and desires (listed in no particular order): • Access: Maintain and expand the opportunities for all to access Brewster's public beaches year-round. Meet peak season access needs by exploring opportunities at all public access points and through alternative means, including off-site parking, improved biking and pedestrian access, and investigation of shuttle options. Also consider those with limited mobility and users of wheelchairs, families, commercial and recreational shell- Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 16 September 30, 2016 fishermen, and emergency access, and the safety needs of providing and balancing this access for all. • Natural Beauty: Protect and maintain the natural beauty, non-commercial, peaceful, quiet, spacious, and "small feel" of Brewster's coast, beaches, and coastal neighborhoods, and safeguard their long-term significance for town residents and visitors. • Science-based, Innovative and Realistic: Seek long-term solutions based on the best available science that are innovative, realistic, and achievable, that work along with nature and build climate resiliency today and into the future, and that are both environmentally and fiscally sustainable. • Holistic: Protect the whole coastal system, including beaches, dunes, wildlife habitat, salt marshes, and other ecosystem services. Seek actions appropriate to coastal projections and community needs that build on and enhance the coast as well as the ecosystem as a whole. • Adaptive: Recognize that the changing nature of coastal resources requires flexibility and adaptive planning, with ongoing monitoring of changing conditions and community needs, to best respond to new technologies, opportunities, and scientific uncertainties. • Consensus-based: Provide for public input and build community consensus through all phases of the planning and implementation of the Coastal Adaptation Strategy. 5. OVERVIEW OF COASTAL THREATS Brewster's entire shoreline, including some areas bordering the shoreline, is currently in the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)’s VE flood zone, which identifies areas subject to inundation by the one-percent-annual-chance flood event (100-year flood event) with additional hazards due to storm-induced velocity wave action. In addition, most or all of Brewster’s tidal marsh and creek system are mapped as AE, which also identifies areas subject to inundation by the one-percent-annual-chance flood event. These are still subject to storm- induced wave action, but the wave heights are typically less, below three feet in height. These FEMA flood zone types indicate that the entire coast is vulnerable to flooding from large, infrequent storms, some of which may cause erosion and other structural damage. Therefore, potential threats to the Brewster coast include erosion of the shoreline, and coastal flooding from storms and their accompanying surges, all of which may increase in both frequency and magnitude as sea level continues to rise. Erosion, storm surges, and sea level rise threats are presented in this section. Impacts from these processes are cumulative with each other, and with other processes (e.g., tides, waves). For example, a storm surge at high tide will Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 17 September 30, 2016 result in higher water elevations and associated damage. Similarly, wave action 2 can cause additional erosion and other damage. This section describes the coastal processes Brewster’s shoreline faces, as well as the coastal process visualizations that were created as part of this project. Actual visualizations are provided in Appendix B. 5.1 Coastal Processes The Town of Brewster and its coastline are subject to many coastal processes, ranging from the daily tides, to the more damaging and infrequent storm events. This section describes the coastal threats to the Town associated with these coastal processes as well as their impacts, including erosion and accretion of the shoreline, storm surges, and sea level rise. 5.1.1 Erosion and Accretion The century-scale sediment budget evaluation for Brewster conducted by the CCS under funding from a Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM) Coastal Community Resiliency Grant (CCRG) indicates that sediment is transported eastward from Dennis to Orleans along the Brewster coastline. The northwesterly prevailing wind direction and associated northwesterly wind waves during winters on Cape Cod Bay are responsible for much of that sediment flow. This study also indicates that while within the Town of Brewster, overall sediment deposition dominates over erosion, most of the sediment deposition has occurred offshore rather than along the shoreline (CCS, 2015). The 2015 Report of the Massachusetts Coastal Erosion Commission (CZM, 2015) indicates that on the long-term, the Brewster shoreline showed an average erosion rate of approximately 0.6 feet per year, while on the short-term average, a slight accretion occurred (0.2 feet of accretion per year). However, shoreline erosion and accretion rates are highly variable along the Brewster coast, and with the passage of time. To provide localized information on shoreline erosion/accretion rates, HW mapped historical shoreline information from CZM and MassGIS, and estimated erosion rates along the shoreline. Figure 2 provides a visual summary of the estimated erosion and accretion rates calculated by HW along CZM transects perpendicular to the shoreline, using the CZM 1951 and 2009 shorelines. It should be noted that shorelines only represent one snapshot in time (i.e., at one point in time in 1951, and another point in 2009) that may have been affected by recent changes (e.g., severe storm) that cannot be captured by the available data. 2 The Brewster flats provide some protection to the coast from strong wave action. ^_^_ ^_ ^_^_ ^_ ^_ ^_ ^_ ^_ ^_ ±0 3,000 1" = 3,000 feet Brewster Historical Coastline Change: 1951 - 2009 Figure 2 Wing Island Paine's Creek Mant's Landing Saint's Landing Breakwater Landing & Breakwater Beach Point of Rocks Ellis Landing Spruce Hill Linnell Landing Crosby Landing Legend Shoreline Movement (1951 - 2009) ^_Town Landing High Erosion (>1.9 ft/yr) Medium Erosion (1.3 - 1.9 ft/yr) Low Erosion (0.7 - 1.3 ft/yr) Change < Uncertainty (-0.7 -0.7 ft/yr) Low Accretion (0.7 - 1ft/yr) Medium Accretion (> 1ft/yr) Document Path: H:\Projects\2015\15153 Brewster Coastal Adaptation Plan\GIS\Maps\160803_ImportShorelinePts.mxd Date: 9/30/2016 Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 19 September 30, 2016 5.1.2 Storm Surge Storm surge is an abnormal rise of water generated by a storm, over and above the predicted astronomical tide. By definition, it is cumulative (i.e., additive) over high tides, sea level rise, and potential coastal change processes. Therefore, storm surges have the potential to create significant coastal change and infrastructure damage. To provide some perspective on tidal ranges in Brewster, HW reviewed the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s 2016 tidal predictions for Sesuit Harbor in East Dennis – the closest NOAA tidal gauge to Brewster. At that location, the tidal range (difference between two consecutive low/high tides) ranges from 6.8 to 15.2 feet with an average of 10.3 feet. Relative to the shoreline (Mean High Water – MHW)3, • Most (58%) high tides are above MHW, • Approximately 1 in 17 high tides (5.8%, or 41 high tides in 2016) exceed two feet above MHW, and • The three greatest high tides are around 2.8 feet above MHW. The National Weather Service developed a computerized Sea, Lake, and Overland Surges from Hurricanes (SLOSH) model for estimating storm surge heights resulting from historical, hypothetical, or predicted hurricanes. The model takes into account atmospheric pressure, size, forward speed, and track data, but not wave action. HW ran multiple hurricane envelope scenarios of the SLOSH model for hurricane categories 1 through 4 and various tide levels. Table 1 summarizes the results of the SLOSH model for all hurricane categories and three different tides: a mean tide, and two high tides. For each hurricane category and tide type, the table provides a range of possible water elevations above MHW due to the hurricane. For example, a hurricane category 2 hitting the coast at mean tide could result in a storm surge ranging from 4.7 to 6.3 feet. Table 1 SLOSH Model Results for the Brewster Coast on Cape Cod Bay Hurricane Category Mean Tide High Tide (2 ft tide) High Tide (5 ft tide) 1 0 - 2.1 ft 4.1 - 4.9 ft 7.1 - 7.8 ft 2 4.7 - 6.3 ft 6.6 - 8.2 ft 9.7 - 11 ft 3 8.8 - 10 ft 10.9 - 11.7 ft 14.1 - 14.6 ft 4 11.8 - 13.4 ft 13.9 - 15.1 ft 17.1 - 17.7 ft 3 Mean High Water is the average of all the high water heights observed over a period of several years, and also represents the shoreline on nautical charts in tidally influenced areas. Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 20 September 30, 2016 In addition, HW researched historical storm surge information. While three tidal gauges were recently installed near Brewster, the historical records for those gauges are too short to provide much historical data. The closest NOAA gauge with a sufficient historic record is in Boston, for which the following historic storm surges were measured: • 4.21' on February 9, 2013 (Winter Storm Nemo), • 4.57' on October 29, 2012 (Hurricane Sandy), • 4.88' on October 30, 1991 ("Perfect Storm" Halloween Nor'easter), • 4.34' on February 6, 1978 (Blizzard of 1978), and • 3.69' on February 14, 1940 (Valentine's Day Nor'easter). 5.1.3 Sea Level Rise Research to support the 2012 U.S. National Climate Assessment (Parris et al., 2012) indicates with very high confidence that global mean sea level will rise at least 0.2 meters (8 inches) and no more than 2.0 meters (6.6 feet) by 2100. The Global Sea Level Rise Scenarios for the United States National Climate Assessment is the latest inter-agency report on sea level rise scenarios developed by federal agencies including NOAA, the US Geological Survey, the US Army Corps of Engineers, and the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program – itself an inter-agency organization with the Department of Defense, the US Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Energy. The scenarios from this report are summarized in Table 2, listed from the highest sea level rise prediction to the lowest. For each of the four scenarios, the table provides the expected sea level rise by 2100 (in feet), as well as the main assumptions included each scenario to derive the sea level rise. Sea level rise predictions are highly variable, ranging from 0.7 to 6.6 feet by 2100, depending on the assumptions and elements considered (e.g., ocean warming, ice sheet loss). It should be noted that these scenarios are used herein for planning purposes, and that actual future sea levels may be lower or higher than listed in Table 2. Table 2 Global Sea Level Rise Scenario Overview Scenario Sea Level Rise by 2100 (ft) Summary Highest 6.6 Scenario derived from ocean warming and maximum ice sheet loss Intermediate/High 3.9 Scenario based on limited ice sheet loss plus ocean warming Intermediate/Low 1.6 Scenario based primarily on sea level rise from ocean warming Lowest 0.7 Scenario representing linear extrapolation of historical sea level rise rate derived from tide gauge records Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 21 September 30, 2016 The Massachusetts Climate Change Adaptation Report (MA EOEEA, 2011), CZM, and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) recognize these global sea level rise scenarios for sea level rise vulnerability assessments. To further refine the global scenarios, and make the rate of SLR more accurate locally, subsidence data can be incorporated into SLR scenarios. The NOAA tidal gage in Boston (ID 8443970) illustrates an increase in relative mean sea level of 2.81 mm (0.11 inches) annually based on monthly mean sea level data from 1921 to 2014. According to the MA Climate Adaptation Report (MA EOEEA, 2011), the global rate of sea level rise is about 1.7 mm (0.067 inches) annually. This difference implies approximately 1.1 mm (0.043 inches) per year of local land subsidence. Since there are no long-term (> 50 years) tidal gages available for the Cape Cod Bay area along Brewster’s coastline, HW factored the rate of subsidence recorded at Boston Harbor in with the global SLR scenarios to determine the relative SLR for Brewster. Figure 3 provides a historic record of seasonally adjusted monthly mean sea level over the past century at the NOAA tidal gauge in Boston. Similar data are available for two additional NOAA gauges in Woods Hole and Nantucket, but the tidal gauge in Boston was used to represent a proxy for the Town of Brewster. Figure 3 Monthly Mean Sea Level at the NOAA Tidal Gauge in Boston The US Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) developed a Sea Level Change Calculator to assist with vulnerability assessments for coastal projects. The calculator incorporates future global sea level rise estimates from the 2012 Parris et al., report with local tidal gauge data to calculate a “local,” or relative sea level rise. The tidal gauge data incorporate both sea level trends and subsidence. Results for the Boston gauge, used as a proxy for Brewster, are presented in Table 3. Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 22 September 30, 2016 Sea levels overlap across scenarios and years. For example, the highest scenario in 2040 shows a sea level rise of approximately 1.12 feet, which is close to the intermediate-high scenario in 2050. During a vulnerability evaluation, the best case scenario has limited value, so the analysis focused on intermediate low to high scenarios within those time horizons. For planning purposes, the BCAG decided to focus on the 20 (~ 1 foot), 40 (~ 2 feet), and 60 (~ 4 ft) year time horizons to provide for both short- and long- term impacts. Table 3 Relative Sea Level Rise - NOAA Boston Gauge (proxy for Brewster) 5.2 Visualizing the Shoreline and Threats This section presents only a portion of the mapping and visualizations that were generated by HW, CCS, and LEC; and presented to the BCAG. Additional visuals are available in the presentation materials used at each of the BCAG meetings. 5.2.1 Maps As previously mentioned, tides, surges, and sea level rise are cumulative. In Brewster, a high tide in 2016 may be up to 2.8 feet above MHW, which could also represent the water elevation for an average tide with a small storm surge, or MHW plus 2.8 feet of sea level rise. Therefore, scenarios overlap. In an effort to select representative scenarios both of today’s potential impacts, and of impacts in the future, the BCAG selected the following scenarios for mapping and coastal evaluation purposes: • MHW to provide a benchmark for “today’s” coastal flooding, Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 23 September 30, 2016 • MHW + 2 ft which can represent either a particularly high tide in 2016, or a more average tide with a storm surge or some sea level rise, • MHW + 4 ft which can represent an average tide with four feet of sea level rise, or two feet of sea level rise with a two-foot storm surge, • MHW + 8 ft which can represent an average tide with a combination of four feet of sea level rise, and four feet of storm surge. In order to develop elevation contours for these water levels and represent them on a map, HW relied on MassGIS data available for the Town of Brewster, including the latest LiDAR (2013- 2014) data, which were adjusted to reflect elevations above MHW. In addition, HW downloaded and displayed the historical shorelines developed by CZM and available on MassGIS. The latest available shoreline was for 2009, therefore, HW used the 2013-2014 LiDAR data to generate a more recent shoreline. Appendix B provides visuals of the coastal flooding and the historical shorelines for each of the landings. The two foot flood intervals represented in the Appendix B maps are contours developed using the LiDAR data described above, and are designed to show the effect of 2, 4, 6, 8, foot increases in water level above current MHW. These can result from the cumulative effects of any combination of sea level rise, storm surge, or tide variance. While not chosen by consensus of the BCAG, 10 foot scenarios were also generated in some graphics to illustrate potential hurricane flooding levels. The BCAG came to consensus on sea level rise and time components of 1, 2, and 4 feet of sea level rise in the 20, 40, and 60-year time horizons respectively. A four foot surge in a high tide storm event is not uncommon, so many of the maps show a 4 + 4 scenario (surge + sea level rise). For example, a four-foot sea level rise in 60 years with a two- foot astronomical tide above MHW, and a four-foot storm surge is equivalent to a 10-foot inundation. 5.2.2 Other Visuals GIS maps can be difficult to understand for public viewers who are not used to working with this type of information. Therefore, HW developed some graphical representation of the potential extent of flooding using drone fly-over imagery and GIS information. Figure 4 and Figure 5 show the results of the visualization for Mant’s and Crosby Landings. Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 24 September 30, 2016 Figure 4 Visual Representation of Potential Coastal Flooding at Mant’s Landing. Figure 5 Visual Representation of Potential Coastal Flooding at Crosby Landing Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 25 September 30, 2016 In addition, for public outreach and education, HW generated an animated visual representation of sea level rise at Mant’s landing using a combination of drone fly-over imagery, GIS information, and graphics software. The video can be viewed online on the project website. 6. TOWN-WIDE ISSUES AND STRATEGIES This section provides an overview of some of the overall climate impacts and risks to the Brewster shoreline, and how these can impact the Town as a whole. In response to the issues, a series of adaptation strategies were identified through the BCAG’s deliberations to help Brewster respond to future climate impacts at town-owned properties adjacent to the coast. The BCAG and the Town have determined that the adaptation strategies discussed here will lay the groundwork for the development of an implementation plan - the Brewster Coastal Resource Management Plan that will be undertaken by the Brewster Coastal Committee. Furthermore, they set the stage for the legal and regulatory changes that are likely to be necessary to implement the adaptation approaches to be developed by the Coastal Committee. Prior to the completion of the Coastal Resource Management Plan, the strategies provided here will help guide the incorporation of climate resilience into near-term projects undertaken by the Town. Finally, these may assist the Town in identifying and applying for additional funding to improve the Town’s climate resilience. The strategies described here are preliminary recommendations that require additional study and assessment to fully incorporate them into the Management Plan. Therefore, they are somewhat general in nature. The BCAG recognized the uncertainty in when climate impacts will be felt on Brewster’s shoreline and the fact that approaches to managing these impacts will mature over time. Therefore town boards and officials, including the Coastal Committee will maintain some flexibility in how they apply the strategies recommended here, with appropriate public input and discussion. The guiding principles described in Section 4 will be used to evaluate the application and implementation of these strategies and/or new strategies that fit the need in future town projects. 6.1 Town-Wide Issues This section identifies town-wide resources that may be threatened by sea level rise and coastal erosion, including beach/shoreline access, wetlands, water and wastewater infrastructure (e.g., water lines, septic systems), stormwater, and the Brewster flats. Beach/Shoreline Access A combination of a storm surge with a rising sea level and/or a particularly high tide may impact low-lying roads that provide access to the landings. Impacts to direct access through local roads Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 26 September 30, 2016 (e.g., Crosby Lane, Breakwater Road) at each landing are identified in Section 7, but roads further inland may also be impacted under certain scenarios. These roads include the following (see Figure 6, which also identifies catch basins at risk): • Main Street (6A) across from Wing Island: while the wetlands on both sides of the road that border Stony Brook provide some flood control, the road may start flooding under a MHW + 4 ft scenario, with flooding impacting a larger portion of the road, including the intersection of Paine’s Creek Road, Lower Road, and 6A under a MHW + 8 ft scenario. This flooding would impact access to Wing Island, Paines Creek, and Mant’s landings. • Lower Road around the intersection with Bloomer Path: the wetland area leading to Freeman’s Pond may absorb some flooding, but portions of Lower Road and Bloomer Path near their intersection would likely flood under a MHW + 8 ft scenario. This flooding would be concurrent with the Main Street flooding described above, and would not impact additional landings beyond Wing Island, Paines Creek, and Mant’s landings. • Breakwater Road: this road would likely flood in multiple locations, including in between Breakwater Beach and Breakwater Landing under a MHW + 4 ft scenario (as identified in Section 7 for Breakwater Beach and Breakwater Landing); and under a MHW + 8 ft scenario north of the intersection with the Channel Way where Breakwater Road separates two wetland areas. Parts of the Channel Way would also likely flood under the same scenario. This flooding would impact access to both Breakwater Beach and Breakwater Landing. Wetlands Wetlands, including salt marshes, are valuable natural resources that can provide improved water quality, habitat for fish, birds, and other species, erosion control, storm surge mitigation, carbon sequestration, recreation, and aesthetics. The Town of Brewster has a number of coastal and freshwater wetlands that may be threatened by erosion and sea level rise. Brewster has two large coastal wetland systems on both ends of the Town (Figure 1): Namskaket Marsh, and the Stony Brook/Quivett Creek marsh area surrounding Wing Island. Salt marshes are complex ecosystems of specialized plants and animals living in an intertidal zone regularly flooded by the tides. The depth and frequency of flooding (i.e., the hydrology of the marsh) dictates which species can survive in any particular part of the marsh, and therefore defines the entire marsh ecosystem. Salt marshes can contract and expand as they experience erosion from large storms, and accretion of sediment and other organic matter from a variety of sources, leading to changes in vegetation and other species. ^^^ ^^ ^ ^ ^^ ^ ^ ±Town of Brewster Road and Catch Basin Flooding Figure 6 LittlePleasantBay Cape Cod Bay Legend Town Landing Roads Town of Brewster ^ 0 .75 Document Path: H:\Projects\2015\15153 Brewster Coastal Adaptation Plan\GIS\Maps\160826_SLR_OtherThreats.mxd Wing Island Paine's Creek Mant's Landing Saint's Landing Breakwater Landing & Breakwater Beach Point of Rocks Ellis Landing Spruce Hill Linnell Landing Crosby Landing MHW MHW + 2ft (SLR or surge) MHW + 4 ft (SLR or surge) MHW + 8 ft (4ft SLR + 4 ft surge) Catch Basin Subject to Flooding Catch Basin not Subject to Flooding Date: 9/30/20161" = .75 miles Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 28 September 30, 2016 As sea level rises, salt marsh accretion and vegetation are the main natural processes that will protect the marsh from higher waters and increased flooding. However, sea levels are not increasing linearly, and the accelerating sea level rise may threaten marsh adaptation. Studies in both Narragansett Bay (Carey, 2014) and Eastern Long Island Sound (Warren, 2014; Raposa, 2014) suggest that salt marsh accretion rates cannot keep up with the increasing rate of sea level rise. The Rhode Island Coastal Management Resources Council (CRMC) is considering the use of dredged materials in a process called “thin layer deposition” to increase the surface elevation of marshes as a way of keeping up with sea level rise (Chaffee, 2014). Save the Bay is exploring the adaptive strategy of excavating small creeks to connect areas of shallow, impounded water to existing ditches of creeks, enabling the impounded areas to drain, and facilitating re-vegetation (Ferguson, 2014). Both of these experiments, if proven to be viable adaptation methods, may provide opportunities worth considering for the Town’s management of its salt marsh resources. In addition, salt marsh may migrate inland, if unimpeded by development. In partnership with NOAA, the Nature Conservancy, and other agencies, the CRMC developed Sea Level Affecting Marshes Model (SLAMM) maps 4 for all of the coastal wetlands in Rhode Island under scenarios of one, three, and five feet of sea level rise. These maps show how and where the salt marsh may migrate along the coast. The SLAMM model could also be used in Brewster to determine patterns of salt marsh retreat. The Town also has smaller marsh areas along its coast, such as along the beach between Paines Creek and Mant’s landings, small areas along the beach west of Breakwater Beach, and around Point of Rocks. These salt marshes provide some protection to the shorelines but are vulnerable to both storms and sea level rise. In addition, some wetlands near the coast, including freshwater wetlands, may become impacted if either erosion is sufficient for the shoreline to retreat to the wetland and for saltwater to enter the wetland, or if saltwater intrusion into the groundwater causes a freshwater wetland to become brackish. Septic Systems and Groundwater Level Increases Brewster’s Integrated Water Management Plan identified parcels with septic systems vulnerable to groundwater level increases due to sea level rise assuming a sea level rise scenario of three feet. Based on the assumption of a uniform rise in groundwater of three feet, the most vulnerable areas were located close to the Namskaket and Stony Brook/Quivett Creek marshes. More recently, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Association to Preserve Cape Cod, the Cape Cod Commission, and the Massachusetts Environmental Trust, evaluated the potential 4These maps are available online at http://www.crmc.ri.gov/maps/maps_slamm.html. Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 29 September 30, 2016 effects of sea level rise on groundwater table elevations on Cape Cod (Walter et al., 2016). The report indicates that with six feet of sea level rise, the groundwater table may rise between 0.3 and 5 feet in Brewster, with the highest rise (i.e., 5 feet) around the Namskaket/Quivett Creek marshes, and the lowest rise (as low as 0.3 feet) in close proximity to the major ponds in Town. Drinking Water Distribution Lines (and Other Utility Lines) Water distribution lines may be impacted by flooding, but also by a rising groundwater table due to sea level rise. Those pipelines are usually buried a few feet into the ground (e.g., 3 feet) to avoid issues with freezing weather. If released, data from the recent USGS study (Walter et al., 2016) could be used in conjunction with flood maps under different scenarios to identify water distribution lines at risk of flooding and /or groundwater impacts. The same would hold true for other utility lines in Town (e.g., gas lines). Stormwater As described for the Beach/Shoreline Access section above, three main roads may be exposed to flooding under certain scenarios, in addition to some local access roads. Any catch basins and other stormwater infrastructure along those road segments are vulnerable under the same scenarios: those catch basins are identified in Figure 6. The Flats The intertidal flats in Brewster are world-class examples of the critical interface between the land and sea. These features consist of material initially deposited during the last deglaciation of the area some 20,000 years ago. The erosion of those deposits in the form of glacial bluffs and low- lying coastal areas to the west of Brewster continue to supply the tidal flats with sediment to the present day. The sediment budget study conducted by the Center for Coastal Studies in 2015 (Giese et al., 2015) quantified the net direction and volume of sediment moving along the Brewster coast. The results demonstrated that not only have the tidal flats largely kept pace with sea level rise from the 1930s to the present, but in some areas have been increasing in size. These results make it clear that the continued existence of the Brewster tidal flats depends upon uninterrupted alongshore sediment movement from the west and they suggest that the flats will keep pace with sea level rise into the near future. However, a significant acceleration of sea level rise is expected during the present century, and additional analysis should be conducted to quantitatively answer the question of how much material would be needed for the tidal flats to keep pace under different future sea level rise scenarios. This, coupled with findings from the sediment budget study, would provide the Town guidance for maintaining the tidal flats and other landforms that depend upon sediment transport. Further analyses will be needed as part of the Coastal Management Plan, including impacts to shellfish aquaculture. Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 30 September 30, 2016 6.2 Town-Wide Strategies The following adaptation strategies are presented in the context of the guiding principles (Section 4). They were developed through the BCAG discussions consistent with the guiding principles, and are the result of a consensus of BCAG participants. 6.2.1 Alternative Access to Town Landings Providing access without increasing parking at the shoreline is consistent with the BCAG’s guiding principles as it provides for increased public use of the Town’s shoreline without creating additional parking in sensitive areas that may be impacted by storms or sea level rise. It also reduces traffic congestion that can impact the neighborhood surrounding a town landing. The BCAG identified opportunities for alternative access for bicycles and pedestrians, as well as through a potential shuttle with satellite parking. Bicycles and Pedestrians Opportunities exist to expand pedestrian and bike access to many of the Town’s beaches. If feasible, new sidewalks along 6A would provide safer pedestrian access and a link to beach roads. The Brewster Bikeways Committee recently released its Comprehensive Brewster Bike Strategy 5 (Brewster Bikeways Committee, 2016) that could help identify opportunities for increased bike access to the landings. It also evaluates how to improve bicycle safety across the Town, which may be applicable along some of the roads to town landings and where further coordination would be appropriate. Two of the goals of the bike strategy are to enhance bike safety, and build public awareness of biking opportunities and safety. Additional opportunities for safe walking and biking access to the landings should be evaluated, including the feasibility of including walking or bike lanes along roads leading to town landings, as part of the Coastal Resource Management Plan and as opportunities arise. These opportunities should be consistent with the bike safety goal of the bike strategy. Shuttle A town-wide review of shuttle service options should also be considered in the development of the Management Plan. Issues that must be addressed include: • Identification of appropriate shuttle parking areas on town-owned parcels or on commercial properties where the business owners may welcome customers traveling to and from the beach; • An evaluation of the appropriate type of shuttle bus/vehicle; • Ability to safely drop off and pick up passengers at the selected town landings; • The length of season for the shuttle and the daily schedule for its use; • The overall cost of the shuttle service, and a mechanism to pay for it; 5 The strategy document is available online at: http://www.brewster-ma.gov/documents-a-archives/forms-a- documents/board-of-selectmen-1/3222-brewster-bike-strategy. Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 31 September 30, 2016 • An analysis of how each beach can handle additional visitors arriving by shuttle; and • Analysis of the viability of a shuttle service – if it is created, will it be used? Satellite Parking Satellite parking refers to parking opportunities that may be in walking, biking, or shuttling distance of a town landing, but not necessarily directly adjacent to the beach where there is currently no opportunity for additional parking. If properly designed and located, new satellite parking locations will allow increased access to the shoreline without impacting sensitive resources, while meeting the goals of the guiding principles. New satellite parking areas should be located close enough to allow people to walk, bike, or be shuttled to the beach, while avoiding wetland areas or locations vulnerable to storms or sea level rise. Handicapped access should be included in the planning for any future locations. As discussed in the shuttle section above, increased traffic in certain commercial areas may benefit businesses, and the Town should collaborate with business and property owners about this option. 6.2.2 New Access Locations in Adapting to the Future The Town should continue to evaluate possible new access points to the shoreline through collaboration with existing property owners. Properties may include state and town-owned land and private properties. The Town could evaluate how existing satellite parking facilities could be used or expanded, or if new satellite parking areas and pathways to the shore could be created without impacting sensitive resources. The Coastal Committee can collaborate with the Town's Open Space Committee and others to identify and plan for the acquisition of parcels that may provide for future access. The proximity of the parcels to sensitive wetland areas and the potential impacts from climate change should be included in this planning process to select sites that will create viable access over the long term. 6.2.3 Access for Emergency Vehicles and Shellfishing The guiding principles recommend that access should be provided for all users of the shoreline. Access for emergency vehicles, beach maintenance, and shellfishing should be maintained over time. Emergency response is limited by access of the relevant emergency vehicles, including rescue boats, and such access should be maintained at as many landings as feasible. 6.2.4 Access for Individuals with Limited Mobility Parking areas and walkways should continue to accommodate those with limited mobility, which include the many senior citizen residents and visitors, but also families with young children, who may not be able to walk very far. The Town should seek to achieve compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act where feasible and practical and should seek input from the All Access Committee on future projects. Where feasible and where in harmony with the long term Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 32 September 30, 2016 management of town landings, visual access from parking areas should be preserved for those who cannot make their way down to the shore. It should be noted that certain town properties provide views to the ocean from locations other than the town landings. These locations are not discussed in this Strategy. 6.2.5 Beach Management and Restoration The Town should periodically evaluate the beach management process to evaluate how well it is working and to incorporate any lessons learned over time. This can be coordinated between the Coastal Committee and the Conservation Commission. Ongoing beach management is consistent with the guiding principles as it promotes safe access to the shore through repairs to the town landings after storm events. Therefore, the Town should continue its ongoing work to restore areas at the town landings impacted by storm events. This can include beach nourishment and dune restoration to replace sand lost during a storm; the planting of beach grass and the use of dune fencing to stabilize dunes; and the repair or replacement of pathways, stairs, or ramps used to access the beach. 6.2.6 Wetland Resource Adaptation Promoting wetland retreat as sea level rises helps to preserve the valuable habitat and storm damage prevention function of coastal wetlands and is therefore consistent with the guiding principles. The Town should identify opportunities to promote and support wetland retreat to preserve coastal wetlands, including salt marshes to the extent this is feasible. Strategies to consider include: • Mapping of low lying areas where wetland retreat is possible; • Land acquisition and preservation in areas directly adjacent to existing wetlands to allow for wetland retreat as sea level rises; • Incorporation of wetland retreat assessments into plans for the development or redevelopment of properties adjacent to existing wetlands; • Development of regulatory guidelines to require that wetland retreat adaptation be incorporated into future development plans; • Removal of restrictions to tidal flow into upstream marshes to promote the inland migration of coastal wetlands; and • Removal of pavement and fill in wetland areas, and/or design and implementation of improved stormwater management where feasible to reduce impacts to existing wetlands. 6.2.7 Ongoing Analysis of Climate Impacts Continuing research and analysis is needed to manage access to Brewster's shoreline into the future in a manner consistent with the guiding principles, which may include additional Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 33 September 30, 2016 monitoring. Further analysis and monitoring of the migration of sediment along the coast is needed to understand how the offshore flats will respond to a rising sea level and whether or not they will remain above water at low tide. The scientific understanding of wetland retreat and salt marsh management under increasing sea levels will mature over time and any new information should be incorporated into the Town's plans for managing wetland retreat. Future data on the rate of sea level rise can also be used to manage and prioritize future adaptation projects. The Town should also assess the potential contributions to climate change of adaptation options when evaluating different approaches. The Management Plan could evaluate the implementation of a coastal overlay district to control future development in areas impacted by climate change and manage the rebuilding of existing development in these areas. The BCAG focused only on town-owned landings, but noted that such a district may play a valuable role in a comprehensive plan to protect Brewster's shoreline. 6.2.8 Ongoing Adaptive Management The Coastal Resource Management Plan should be developed with the recognition that climate impacts and the associated adaptation techniques will evolve over time. The Plan should incorporate flexible adaptive management techniques to review and amend recommendations for future actions as new information is gathered from projects within Town, and from lessons learned from other communities. This is important given the uncertain timeframe in which climate impacts will be experienced. 6.2.9 Prioritization of Future Projects The Town should focus projects at existing landings on locations that are considered to be underutilized, and avoid overcrowding at beaches. This should include an analysis of the size of the beach area controlled by the Town relative to the number of people that can park at the landing or access it through other means, such as by shuttle or bicycle. 7. IMPACTS TO TOWN LANDINGS AND BEACHES This section provides an overview of the impacts landing-by landing. Additional details on each landing are available in the landings matrix in Appendix A, and Appendix B provides visual representations of the impacts to each of the landings. Wing Island The island is an undeveloped area bounded by creeks and marsh to the south, east, and west with a barrier beach system with a salt marsh to the north. The barrier beach shoreline has eroded slightly: on average ~0.25 ft/ year between 1951 and 2009, and movement has occurred east near the inlet. The shoreline is partially protected by salt marsh, so erosion may continue to be limited. However, the footprint of the island is likely to shrink with storms and sea level rise. Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 34 September 30, 2016 Paine’s Creek The inlet at Paine’s Creek is fronted by a coastal beach stabilized by revetment parallel to the shore with end groins (from the 1950s), and riprap wall protecting the culvert and parking area. There is a small area of the marsh in front of the rip rap. The revetment will provide limited protection to the beach from erosion, and scour may cause the inner creek mouth to erode. The landing is likely to experience increased flooding from storms, sea level rise, and elevated wetland water levels. Table 4 summarizes the potential impacts to Paine’s Creek from various water levels, and is based on the landing and its resources as they stand at the time of writing (flooding patterns would change if the coastline changes). Table 4 Paine's Creek Potential Impacts Water Level Potential Flooding Impacts to Resource Access Parking MHW + 2 ft (surge or SLR) Beach / marsh partially floods No Impact No Impact MHW + 4 ft (surge or SLR) Beach / marsh floods Access to beach floods ~50% impact MHW + 8 ft (4 ft surge + 4 ft SLR) Resource fully floods Access to resource & parking floods 100% impact Mant’s Landing This landing is a coastal beach and dune system with no structures bordering a marsh located inland and connected to Freeman’s Pond. Significant erosion has occurred since 1951 (on average ~1.7 ft/yr). The barrier beach west of the parking lot has migrated landward and its migration is likely to continue unimpeded. The landing is also likely to experience increased flooding from storms, sea level rise, and elevated wetland water levels. Table 5 summarizes the potential impacts to Mant’s Landing from various water levels, and is based on the landing and its resources as they stand at the time of writing (flooding patterns would change if the coastline changes). Table 5 Mant's Landing Potential Impacts Water Level Potential Flooding Impacts to Resource Access Parking MHW + 2 ft (surge or SLR) Reduced beach, flooded marsh No impact No impact MHW + 4 ft (surge or SLR) Reduced beach, flooded marsh Flood impacts parking access ~ 50% impacted MHW + 8 ft (4 ft surge + 4 ft SLR) No beach, no marsh Flood prevents parking access 100% impacted Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 35 September 30, 2016 Saint’s Landing The beach is located in a groin field, backed by cliff top dunes, with a shoreline that has retreated (~0.7 ft/yr). The dunes and elevation reduce flood impact to the parking area. The shoreline is likely to continue to retreat, with groins eventually undermined at their landward end. Table 6 summarizes the potential impacts to Saint’s Landing from various water levels, and is based on the landing and its resources as they stand at the time of writing (flooding patterns would change if the coastline changes). Table 6 Saint's Landing Potential Impacts Water Level Potential Flooding Impacts to Resource Access Parking MHW + 2 ft (surge or SLR) Reduced beach area No impact No impact MHW + 4 ft (surge or SLR) Reduced beach area No impact No impact MHW + 8 ft (4 ft surge + 4 ft SLR) Beach entirely floods* No impact No impact * This flooding scenario is based on the beach as it stands in 2016. The beach is likely to retreat so flooding patterns may change. However, the retreat will also be mitigated by beach nourishment efforts by the Town and neighboring property owners. Breakwater Landing This coastal beach has a groin on the west side, and revetment to the east, and has experienced no significant shoreline movement since 2009, possibly due to the presence of salt marsh. Cliff coastal bank erosion has occurred in storm events and is addressed with nourishment and sturdy drift fencing. Future erosion may be limited, but access could become restricted by flooding. Table 7 summarizes the potential impacts to Breakwater Landing from various water levels, and is based on the landing and its resources as they stand at the time of writing (flooding patterns would change if the coastline changes). Table 7 Breakwater Landing Potential Impacts Water Level Potential Flooding Impacts to Resource Access Parking MHW + 2 ft (surge or SLR) Reduced beach area No impact No impact MHW + 4 ft (surge or SLR) Reduced beach area Flood impedes access to parking No impact, but no access to parking MHW + 8 ft (4 ft surge + 4 ft SLR) Reduced beach area Flood impedes access to parking No impact, but no access to parking Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 36 September 30, 2016 Breakwater Beach The beach is backed by coastal dune east of the coastal structures, and has experienced significant erosion since 1951 (average ~1.8 ft/yr). The beach and dune are likely to continue to retreat, which the new parking location should allow. The landing is also likely to experience increased flooding from storms and SLR. Table 8 summarizes the potential impacts to Breakwater Beach from various water levels, and is based on the landing and its resources as they stand at the time of writing (flooding patterns would change if the coastline changes). Table 8 Breakwater Beach Potential Impacts Water Level Potential Flooding Impacts to Resource Access Parking MHW + 2 ft (surge or SLR) Reduced beach area No impact No impact MHW + 4 ft (surge or SLR) Reduced beach area No impact No impact MHW + 8 ft (4 ft surge + 4 ft SLR) Beach entirely floods No impact 100% impacted Point of Rocks The coastal beach is backed by a dune and located behind a salt marsh area, with accretion since 1951 (average ~0.7 ft/yr), but some more recent erosion. The shoreline retreat is likely to continue, but the salt marsh may provide some protection. The low dunes are likely to migrate landward against higher uplands, and the landing may be subject to increased flooding. Table 9 summarizes the potential impacts to Point of Rocks from various water levels, and is based on the landing and its resources as they stand at the time of writing (flooding patterns would change if the coastline changes). Table 9 Point of Rocks Potential Impacts Water Level Potential Flooding Impacts to Resource Access Parking MHW + 2 ft (surge or SLR) Reduced beach area No impact No impact MHW + 4 ft (surge or SLR) Beach entirely floods No impact No impact MHW + 8 ft (4 ft surge + 4 ft SLR) Beach entirely floods Access to beach floods No impact Ellis Landing The coastal beach is located at the end of a revetment, with a parking area surrounded by dunes. Significant erosion has occurred since 1951 (average ~1.7 ft/yr), and the beach is likely to continue to erode, with potential scour at end of the revetment. A strategic retreat project was approved in 2015 involving drainage improvements and dune restoration. Table 10 summarizes Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 37 September 30, 2016 the potential impacts to Ellis Landing from various water levels, and is based on the landing and its resources as they stand at the time of writing (flooding patterns would change if the coastline changes). Table 10 Ellis Landing Potential Impacts Water Level Potential Flooding Impacts to Resource Access Parking MHW + 2 ft (surge or SLR) Reduced beach area No impact No impact MHW + 4 ft (surge or SLR) Beach entirely floods No impact No impact MHW + 8 ft (4 ft surge + 4 ft SLR) Beach entirely floods Access to beach floods ~15% impact Spruce Hill A long trail from the parking area provides access to the beach, behind which the dune has been eroding. Stairs providing access to the beach were recently washed out and rebuilt. The beach has experienced moderate historical erosion (~0.8 feet), which is likely to continue. The wetland behind the barrier beach system may eventually be lost to erosion. Overall, this landing will experience limited impact from the selected scenarios other than some beach flooding. Linnell Landing The coastal beach is located between two groins, backed by a parking lot surrounded by dunes on the east and west sides, and has experienced moderate erosion since 1951 (~0.3 ft/yr), but significant accretion recently (> 5 ft/yr) that has buried eastern groin. The long term erosional trend may continue, and the low-lying parking area may be subject to flooding and sand accumulation from dunes. Table 11 summarizes the potential impacts to Linnell Landing from various water levels, and is based on the landing and its resources as they stand at the time of writing (flooding patterns would change if the coastline changes). Table 11 Linnell Landing Potential Impacts Water Level Potential Flooding Impacts to Resource Access Parking MHW + 2 ft (surge or SLR) Reduced beach area No impact No impact MHW + 4 ft (surge or SLR) Beach almost entirely floods No impact No impact MHW + 8 ft (4 ft surge + 4 ft SLR) Beach entirely floods Access to beach floods ~60% impact Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 38 September 30, 2016 Crosby Landing The barrier beach and coastal dune system back to wetlands, with significant accretion both historically (~1.5 ft/yr from 1951 – 2009) and recently (> 6 ft/yr): the groin to the west is almost buried. Accretion may continue on the long term, potentially impacted by storms and sea level rise. The parking lot may experience increased flooding from the marsh area. A redesign of the culvert under the access road to the landing is currently underway. Table 12 summarizes the potential impacts to Crosby Landing from various water levels, and is based on the landing and its resources as they stand at the time of writing (flooding patterns would change if the coastline changes). Table 12 Crosby Landing Potential Impacts Water Level Potential Flooding Impacts to Resource Access Parking MHW + 2 ft (surge or SLR) Reduced beach, wetland floods No impact No impact MHW + 4 ft (surge or SLR) Reduced beach, wetland floods Access to parking floods ~ 50% impact MHW + 8 ft (4 ft surge + 4 ft SLR) Entire resource underwater Access to parking floods 100% impact 8. IMPLEMENTATION RECOMMENDATIONS 8.1 Clarify the Task and Support of the Coastal Committee The Brewster Coastal Committee has been given the responsibility for developing the Town’s Coastal Resource Management Plan. The Coastal Committee charge should be changed to incorporate the following: • Develop a Brewster Coastal Resource Management Plan, drawing on the Coastal Adaptation Strategy and evaluating coastal actions based on the guiding principles of the Adaptation Strategy; • Integrate robust public participation in all phases of its work; • Coordinate planning and implementation across institutional boundaries (Incorporate climate change and adaptation strategies into policies, plans, and regulations. Many town departments, committees, and boards would be involved in developing, implementing, and monitoring the Brewster Coastal Resource Management Plan); • Monitor changing coastal conditions and evolving community needs; and • Monitor and evaluate implemented adaptation strategies. Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 39 September 30, 2016 The Selectmen should also provide the necessary staff and financial resources to allow them to complete their work effectively 8.2 Implementation of the Management Plan Once the Brewster Coastal Resource Management Plan is completed, it is important that the Town have the proper institutional structure to ensure the plan is implemented. The Brewster Coastal Advisory Group recommends that the Board of Selectmen or the Town Administrator form a task force to review the parameters of the existing Coastal Committee to ensure it has the staff, capacity, authority, and membership from other relevant town boards (to facilitate coordination across the boards) and community representation (to uphold the guiding principles outlined in the coastal adaptation strategy). The institutional body in charge of implementation of the Management Plan should have sufficient staffing and financial resources, as well as the appropriate authority, scope, and membership. 8.3 Public Engagement The BCAG recommends that the Coastal Committee employ robust public engagement to actively involve citizens in the development of the Management Plan. When developing significant coastal projects, the Town should engage in a pre-regulatory and pre-decisional public process as early as possible in the development of the project. Best practices for public engagement include engaging members of the public and interested stakeholders in constructive and exploratory discussion of project goals; exploration of a range of potential strategies; evaluation of options using the guiding principles; and collaboration to seek an approach that balances across the priorities and trade-offs. Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 40 September 30, 2016 9. ADDITIONAL GROUP AND PARTICIPANT SUGGESTIONS During the process, Advisory Group participants offered specific suggestions for ways to shape and improve the Strategy. Several of these ideas were discussed during BCAG meetings and achieved the consensus of the group – those suggestions have been integrated into their appropriate sections of the report. However, the group ran out of time to examine and discuss many of the promising ideas that were suggested. BCAG members agreed that these ideas should nonetheless be included in this report, so that the Coastal Committee and other town processes can explore them further in any future plans evolving from this document. Section 9 is a compilation of the many suggestions submitted by individual BCAG members or small groups to be considered by the full BCAG as additions, removals, or changes to the Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy. Please note that these suggestions were not evaluated by the full BCAG, have not been vetted for accuracy, and therefore do not reflect the consensus views of the Advisory Group. 9.1 Town-wide Issues and Strategies Town planning must respond to three major challenges: 1. Increasing and locally unpredictable erosion and coastal infrastructure damage. Estimates do not incorporate accelerating factors now being observed, e.g.: • Greenland has lost nine trillion tons of ice this century. • There were two “five hundred year storms” in a four-month span in Louisiana. • Cape Cod Bay temperatures are rising at six times the global increase rate 6. 2. Summer beach access needs that have been poorly met for many years: • Vehicle beach parking need far exceeds the supply for a very short 'peak' period, • Beach neighborhoods loaded with circling vehicles that can't find parking, • Awkward pressure on near-beach parking for other needs (e.g., museums), and • Poor provision for cyclists and pedestrians. 3. Unmet year-round needs for convenient handicapped access (vehicle-views and physical access): • Increasing need as population ages, and • Reduced opportunity from storm damage (Paine's Creek), or trying to curb storm damage (Breakwater Beach). 6 Andrew Pershing, Chief Scientific Officer, Gulf of Maine Institute [CCT 17 Aug 2016]: “Cape Cod Bay and Gulf of Maine have experienced temperature increases six times the global average since 1982, and the rate of increase has been accelerating since 2009” Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 41 September 30, 2016 At peak times, sticker-parking demand appears to be over five times the supply7 - see Appendix C. Furthermore, we found that Brewster is not able to meet this scale of peak demand with 'close-to-beach' parking due to: • Extensive private ownership, plus marshland and sensitive habitat in coastal zone, • Interference with natural systems increases risks for storm damage, • Not good to spend on things likely to be destroyed in a few years, and • Public parking squeezed in residential neighborhoods changes rural character. We note that on peak days, many people are willing to walk at least half a mile. • MNH fends off ~40 vehicles/day trying to park for beach access to Wing's Island. • Many beachgoers parked that far from Crosby beach before street parking was banned last year. Recommended Goal: Everyone who wants to get to a salt beach on peak season days should be able to do so. Recommended Strategies: • Designate or add more spaces for beach access on higher ground, where possible within walking distance but not in residential neighborhoods. • Focus first on opening up spaces for Wings Island and Spruce Hill (least-used beaches). • As the prior options will likely not meet peak demand, also investigate feasibility of shuttle service(s): o About half of survey respondents said they would take a shuttle. o Explore pilot temporary shuttle service from existing car parking for beaches with highest beach/parking space ratio – Paines/Mants, Point of Rocks, Crosby/Linnell. o Commercial partnerships, plus low season-sticker price, provide funding opportunities. Visual Access: At Brewster’s landings, visual access is enjoyed every day, at all times; it is what brings people to the beach at sunset and during storms. Each coastal landing offers vistas from the beach itself, 7 'parking demand' vs. 'spaces available' estimated and verified in three ways: (a) In 2014, 6677 stickers were valid in a typical summer day On average summer day ~35% of survey respondents want to go to saltwater beach, suggesting 2363 stickered vehicles seeking parking. Our 383 current spaces only meet 16.6% of this demand. [real percentage need met may be lower – only 2% of survey respondents were visitors. Visitors with stickers may be more likely to go to the beach than residents] (b) If we assume all valid day stickers and 3/7 of valid weekly stickers on a typical summer's day use saltwater parking spots, plus 12 Nickerson tags at Crosby, that leaves 153 spaces for the ~6,364 seasonal stickers sold. That is saltwater parking space for 2.3% of seasonal stickers, or 4.1% if we including all freshwater spaces. Estimate in (a) corresponds to 13.8% of seasonal stickers seeking parking – seems reasonable. [based on current spaces and 2014 sticker data] (c) hundreds of survey complaints about not being able to find parking Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 42 September 30, 2016 looking north, east, and west. Views are also available from the water and the flats, looking southward to the shoreline. Coastal views from parking areas – and on the designated Scenic Roads that lead to landings – have significant community value. Residents and visitors enjoy seeing the beach, the shoreline, marshlands, the flats, and open water. At sunsets and especially during the offseason and winter, these spaces are often occupied by people sitting in their vehicles and appreciating their natural surroundings. Visual access from a parked vehicle may represent the only viable way for handicapped, aging, or infirm individuals to enjoy precious and shared coastal resources. Brewster should continue to consider aesthetic issues during its ongoing management and maintenance of town landings, and the views enjoyed by beachgoers at individual public access points should be accounted for as town departments and committees review proposals for property development on neighboring properties. Brewster should endeavor to maintain and increase the inventory of parking spaces and viewing platforms delivering high-quality beachfront vistas to residents and visitors of all capabilities. Funding Coastal resiliency and beach access projects in Brewster draw upon a variety of funding sources, notably state and federal grants and Town Meeting allocations by various means, including annual departmental line items, Community Preservation Act funds, and dedicated funding articles. Voters have been supportive, but landing projects must compete with other town programs, initiatives, and projects for taxpayer funding. In the past several years, Brewster has been very successful in securing grant funds to better characterize sediment dynamics and erosion rates and to design and implement tidal flow restoration, stormwater control, and parking lot relocation projects. While grants create opportunity for supplementing and leveraging town funding, grant-driven work scopes and timelines can influence project prioritization, design, and implementation, all to the potential detriment of community interests. In addition, reliance on grant funding is not sustainable. Brewster should provide the public with regularly updated information on expenditures and remaining funds available under grants and Town Meeting authorizations for specific projects and activities. Departmental allocations and expenditures specific to coastal resiliency and access—reflecting both labor and materials—also should be tracked and reported, relative to individual projects and activities. Annually, the Town collects money through the sale of beach parking stickers and permits for kayak storage, mooring, shellfishing, and other coastal activities, as well as through fines for illegal parking at or near town landings. Collections are treated as general revenue, available for various purposes. Brewster should investigate establishment of an enterprise account as a Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 43 September 30, 2016 possible approach to creating a steady and dedicated source of funding for enhancing climate resiliency and coastal access. “Residents Only” Parking Brewster sells thousands of beach permits annually, some to full-time or seasonal residents and some to visitors looking to access the beach for a day, a week, or the entire summer season. Permits exceed available parking many times over. While visitors are essential to Brewster’s economy and its character, property owners pay taxes to support year-round landing maintenance by town departments. Some Cape towns operate “residents only” parking areas. Dedicating beach parking areas—or an entire lot—to holders of residential parking permits should be explored as a possible approach to addressing equity issues during the busy summer season. Coastal Access Information Improve signage, handouts, and online information to expand awareness and enhance use of coastal access points, spanning all landings and including parking, biking, and walking options. Risk Communication Communicate climate change risk information to coastal property owners, neighborhoods, and the broader community. 9.2 Landing-by-landing Strategies The BCAG investigated how the proposed adaptation strategies could be used to evaluate approaches to managing coastal issues at each of the eleven town landings/beaches. During the process, Advisory Group participants were assigned to small groups to examine initial suggested adaptation approaches for specific landings, and to also consider additional suggestions. Many of these small groups also worked between BCAG meetings to further refine their ideas. This section details three lists of ideas of how these could be implemented at each location: 1. Landing-by-landing suggestions offered by the technical team, supported by the small groups, and reported out to the full group, but not revisited and officially agreed upon by the BCAG as a whole, 2. Additional suggestions developed and agreed to by the small groups, but which have not been examined by the whole BCAG, and 3. Individual BCAG member suggestions, also not reviewed or discussed by the BCAG as a whole. This information can be used by the Coastal Committee in the development of the Coastal Resource Management Plan, recognizing that the ongoing research and evaluation of the adaptation approaches, as well as further community review, may lead to alterations in these proposals. Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 44 September 30, 2016 9.2.1 Strategies Recommended by the Small Groups during the BCAG Meeting Wing Island • Evaluate need for additional parking and possible boardwalk modifications in response to changing sea level. • Evaluate opportunities to allow and encourage wetland and salt marsh retreat. Paine’s Creek • Continue beach nourishment and dune maintenance as needed to maintain the existing parking area. • Evaluate alternative transportation options such as a shuttle and/or improved bike access. Mant's Landing • Continue beach nourishment and dune maintenance. • Evaluate alternative transportation options such as a shuttle and/or improved bike access. • Evaluate replacing pavement with articulated concrete mats or other more resilient material than existing pavement. • Maintain access to beach for heavy vehicles and emergency access. • Maintain access to beach for shellfish grants. • Improve stormwater treatment. Saint's • Continue beach nourishment and dune maintenance. • Evaluate ways to improve path to beach as erosion continues. Breakwater Landing (also known as Little Breakwater) • Continue beach nourishment and dune/bank maintenance. • Maintain access to the beach. Breakwater Beach • Continue beach nourishment and dune maintenance. • Evaluate alternative transportation options such as a shuttle and/or improved bike access. • Maintain access to beach for heavy vehicles and emergency access. • Maintain access to beach for shellfish grants. Point of Rocks • Maintain access to beach for heavy vehicles and emergency access. • Maintain access to beach for shellfish grants. Ellis • Improve handicapped/reduced mobility access. • Maintain access to beach for heavy vehicles and emergency access. Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 45 September 30, 2016 • Maintain access to beach for shellfish grants. • Continue beach nourishment and dune maintenance. Spruce Hill • Evaluate potential to expand parking. • Evaluate potential to improve pathway/access to beach. Linnell • Continue beach nourishment and dune maintenance. • Evaluate potential for additional parking/access through adjacent state property. • Maintain access to beach for heavy vehicles and emergency access. • Maintain access to beach for shellfish grants. Crosby • Improve tidal restriction/ flow in culvert to promote wetland health and possibilities for retreat. • Evaluate impacts of flooding on access, especially in the low lying area of Crosby Lane. • Continue dune and access path maintenance. • Evaluate potential for additional parking/access through adjacent state property • Evaluate the use of alternative transportation options such as a shuttle to this location and/or improved bike access. 9.2.2 Further Small Group Suggestions (not discussed by the full group) Paine’s Creek • Replace footbridge. • Continue beach nourishment. • Evaluate opportunity to introduce marsh grass to protect the beach. • Consider a pilot shuttle to this landing from one or more of the local business locations (e.g. Lemon Tree Plaza) as Paine’s Creek is cited by the Coastal Beach Access Survey as a favorite beach and a high choice for a shuttle. • Explore opportunity for a bike share from the same business locations. • Create a mixed use lane on Paine’s Creek Lane. Mant’s Landing • Continue maintaining the dune. • Replace pavement with articulated concrete pads. • Consider a shared shuttle with Paine’s Creek given proximity and beach popularity. • Landing provides good access for heavy vehicles which should be maintained. • Elevate back of lot to improve drainage. Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 46 September 30, 2016 Linnell Landing • Re-nourish dune at north end of Linnell Landing parking lot as needed and maintain platform • Create overflow parking on existing DCR open space, rather than relocating northern portion of parking lot away from the dune. • Use following strategies to reduce vehicular traffic on Linnell Landing Road and Crosby Lane: o Open beach area (Hopkins) at end of Weathervane Lane with bike and walking access through DCR property, o Select a site on DCR property for expandable but environmentally sensitive parking with convenient access to three beaches, i.e., daytime use of the Cape Rep parking area or the old Camp Monomoy soccer field in lieu of creating a parking lot on the old tennis courts; o Evaluate usage over several years and if access is deemed to be inadequate, consider shuttle bus and/or bike rental stations with automobile parking on DCR property near Route 6A; and o Clear and maintain existing hiking trails on DCR property that pass through environmentally significant habitat. Crosby and Breakwater Beach • Improve signage, handouts, and online information to expand awareness and enhance use of the new beach parking areas on the upper tennis court and grassy field on DCR/Nickerson land while minimizing adverse impacts on natural resources and neighborhood character. • Ensure that the design of the Crosby Lane culvert/resiliency project includes a marked pedestrian lane and/or other approaches for mitigating public safety risks created by the new beach parking areas on DCR/Nickerson land. Saints and Breakwater Landing • Close to homes and private land - no good opportunity to retreat, or increase parking’. • Has low public beach widths (180 ft and 65 ft) and high “parking spaces/100 ft beach" ratios (Saints: 20 (highest in Brewster), Breakwater Landing: 11; average: 3.6). • Utilize cost-effective measures to maintain in place as long as possible: year-round visual access at Breakwater Landing for the mobility challenged. Wing Island and Spruce Hill • Major neglected opportunities, perhaps the best in Brewster: clear from visioning and survey (417 comments) Brewster wants uncrowded beaches. • Large widths of publicly usable beach (WI: >3000ft and SH: 645-820 ft). • Most under-served in Brewster (0 and 1.5 parking spaces per 100 ft, average is 3.6). • Recommend feasibility studies to develop substantially more parking access. Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 47 September 30, 2016 • Walks to beach are over conservation land/wetlands, but can easily be achieved with good design. Wing Island • Over 3,000 ft of town beach which has no organized access from beach parking. • Will change, but is naturally adaptive and resilient. • Recommend a feasibility study to add ~100 designated sticker-required beach parking spaces in NE corner of Drummer Boy Park: o Evaluate helical pile boardwalk across marsh (~140 yards long), connected to parking by short trail across BCT land to east, o Replace existing ancient 'unfit for purpose' anchored platforms used to cross from MNH (~150 yards long) with a similar new boardwalk, and o Assess ways to nicely integrate with other Drummer Boy Park uses. Spruce Hill • 645-820 ft of town beach 0.4 mile walk from parking area. • No structures on either side, so naturally resilient. • Not in a residential area. • Recommend a feasibility study to increase existing parking to about 60 spaces: o Trail surface on cartway should be gently leveled with fill for pushchairs and buggies, o Add “Spruce Hill Beach” to the Town's beach map, o Stairs sometimes break in storms – seek most durable construction methods, and o Town owns recently-vacated house on this land – important to avoid conflicting rentals until parking opportunity is evaluated for 60 spaces and potential further expansion. 9.2.3 Additional Suggestions from Individual BCAG Participants (not discussed by the full group) General • A summary matrix would be useful. One side would be each landing. The other side would be every strategy, perhaps loosely grouped as resiliency/maintenance measures and access measures. A key could be employed to identify current practices and strategies with high potential/priority and low potential/priority. For example, studying a shuttle for the western and eastern landings has high potential/priority; from Saint's to Ellis, not so much. Breakwater Beach • Evaluate addition of walking trail through Cist Beach Park, with bench for viewing and elevated stairway over dune, to increase pedestrian safety and access, spread people along beach, and honor donor of land. Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 48 September 30, 2016 • Consider off-season orientation of parking in Cist Beach Park to enhance visual access. • Assess and mitigate water quality impacts from Consodine Ditch outfall on swimming/shellfish. • Evaluate opportunities to alleviate tidal restriction at Considine Ditch to reduce storm stacking and enhance natural flooding mitigation. Breakwater Landing • Evaluate expansion of viewing platform to achieve ADA compliance and improve safety and visual access. Crosby and Breakwater • Remove all landing-by–landing strategies titled "Continue…," as this is inconsistent with flexible and adaptive planning. It is essential to be evaluating the efficacy of existing practice. Existing practice also has not been evaluated against the guiding principles. These strategies should be reworded as "Evaluate current … " Crosby • Instead of Small Group 2’s recommendation of "Evaluate potential for additional parking/access through adjacent state property," write it as the following: “Evaluate potential for additional bike, pedestrian, and vehicle access through adjacent state property." • Evaluate a viewing platform and raised stairways, on town land and adjacent state property, to improve resiliency and visual access. • Evaluate opportunities to allow and encourage wetland and salt marsh retreat and to restore ecological functions on town land and adjacent state property. • Conduct an East Brewster climate resiliency, coastal access, and economic development study driven by the BCAG guiding principles and process recommendations, considering all types of access (biking, walking, shuttle, parking), and addressing the stretch of coastline from Namskaket Creek to the western edge of the Spruce Hill Conservation Area and encompassing Spruce Hill, Crosby, and Linnell landings plus Nickerson State Park, as well as the areas leased by, and the interests of, Cape Rep Theater and Crosby Mansion. Crosby/Linnell • Evaluate addition of kayak/canoe racks to increase boating access at east end of Town. Point of Rocks • Evaluate addition of handicapped parking and ADA-compliant viewing platform to increase visual access. Saint’s Landing • Evaluate installation of ADA-compliant viewing platform to improve visual access. Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 49 September 30, 2016 Mant’s Landing • Evaluate lowering/removal of sacrificial dune, along with orientation of parking and location of handicapped parking, to improve visual access. Paine’s Creek Landing • Install signage, upgrade bridge, and install elevated stairway over dune to improve pedestrian access to easterly portions of beach. 9.2.4 Further Recommendations Government Structure and Implementation: (Discussed by the full group but no consensus was reached) The Town currently has a suspended Coastal Committee whose charge is to develop a management plan for Brewster's coastal resources and to undertake much of the assessment, study, and identification work now accomplished in this Strategy. Going forward, the best path to ensure the integration of this Strategy in Town decision making is the establishment of a new, permanent Coastal Resource Management Board. Establishing a permanent public body to oversee coastal resource management will provide consistency of scope and authority in applying the vision, guiding principles and recommendations of this Strategy. Although a permanent public body may be established by a vote of the Select Board or with a bylaw passed at Town Meeting, the importance of comprehensive coastal resource management as outlined in this Strategy is permanent and critical to the Town, and seeking the approval of a bylaw by two thirds of the voters at Town Meeting is recommended over a vote by elected officials. Therefore, it is recommended to: • Ask the Town Administrator to create a task force to develop the parameters for a Coastal Resource Management Board. The task force will include identified stakeholders in the coastal resource management process drawn from the BCAG, town officials, town employees, and Brewster residents and will consult with professional services as necessary. • Assign the task force these objectives: o Draft a bylaw, which establishes the CRMB and defines its purpose, responsibility, accountability, membership and required procedure to be recommended for inclusion on the warrant for the next Town Meeting, o Draft a set of procedural bylaws to be considered for adoption by the CRMB for governing their actions, o Draft a management plan based on this Strategy to be considered for approval and subsequent administration by the CRMB, and Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 50 September 30, 2016 o The task force will not be a public body subject to Open Meeting Law since it will be strictly advisory and will not make jurisdictional decisions. Recommendations Not Discussed by the Full Group • Include a description of “opportunities for public input and comment”, referencing the figure of the same name in the appendix. See figure in file named: Brewster CAG - Opportunities for Public Input and Comment.pdf • In order to implement affordable, effective and environmentally sound action plans vis-à- vis climate change, we recommend the Selectmen adopt the following proactive adaptation strategies: A. Invest in studies of sediment migration and wave action effects along the entire Brewster coastline, B. Petition the State Legislature to repeal the 2012 Amendment to WPA re offshore dredging, C. Petition the State Legislature to amend the WPA to provide more lenient application of soft solutions through enabling legislation and/or regulatory changes, D. Seek coastal resilience grants from DEEA, CZM and NOAA to fund more proactive solutions, E. Take leadership among Cape Cod communities in understanding and preparing for climate change impacts such as SLR and coastal flooding, and F. Petition the federal government, its Congress, Agencies and Committees as appropriate. In addition to the adaptation strategies for the Brewster coastline presented herewith and in anticipation of the devastating erosion and property damage expected over the next 60 years due to climate change and specifically, SLR, storm surge and full-moon high tide flooding, all as documented in this BCAG Final Report with extensive scientific studies, we recommend to the Selectmen of the Town of Brewster the following proactive action plans to reduce the rate of erosion and the impact of violent storms along the entire Brewster coastline: A. Explore the practicality and environmental soundness of dredging, scraping and sculpting of the flats to create more absorption of wave energy, B. Explore the economic practicality and environmental soundness of using sand from the flats for renourishment of all Brewster dunes and beaches, and C. Explore the practicality of reintroducing marsh grass in those areas of the shoreline flats and deeper channels to absorb wave energy and slow down the migration of sand away from the beach. Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 51 September 30, 2016 We are proposing only soft solutions. We do not propose altering the lateral or landward flow of sediment. We do not think the WPA prohibits restricting the seaward flow of sediment, thereby giving us the proactive right to protect and maintain our dunes and beaches. We think the 2012 amendment to the WPA in Massachusetts which prohibits dredging inside the outer bar is discriminatory against Brewster (and Orleans and Eastham) and should be repealed on constitutional grounds as well as being environmentally unnecessary and unproductive. We understand that much more data need to be accumulated in the exploration of these proactive strategies. At the least, further studies need to be performed on sediment migration along the Brewster coastline and on the impact of wave action (height and frequency) throughout the bay and on the Brewster beaches. Finally, how much has the bay silted in over the past 75 years? If the floor of the bay is higher and we are putting more water on our flats due to sea level rise, there is no place for the extra water to go except over our beaches and dunes and into our creeks and marshes. Finally, we request that whatever opportunities for further proactive intervention to combat climate change are approved by and for the Town of Brewster, also be made available to private property owners on terms and conditions similar to those imposed on the Town itself. While no subsidies of private property owners are suggested, the process for obtaining approval of private projects should be streamlined and in instances where work on the flats impacts private owners, there should be fair and equitable assessments of the private property owners to help defray the costs to the Town. Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy 52 September 30, 2016 REFERENCES Brewster Bikeways Committee. 2016. Biking Brewster: A strategy to enhance biking in Brewster. Available online at: www.brewster-ma.gov/documents-a-archives/forms-a- documents/board-of-selectmen-1/3222-brewster-bike-strategy. Carey, J. 2014. The declining role of organic matter in Narragansett Bay salt marsh accretion. Narragansett Bay Journal, 28. Narragansett Bay Estuary Program, Providence, RI. Center for Coastal Studies (CCS). 2015, June. Assessment of the Century Scale Sediment Budget of the Brewster Coast. A Report Submitted to the Town of Brewster. Chaffee, C. 2014. Salt marshes and sea level rise – how will we manage? Narragansett Bay Journal, 28. Narragansett Bay Estuary Program, Providence, RI. Ferguson, W. 2014. Salt marsh adaptation strategies in Rhode Island in light of sea level rise. Narragansett Bay Journal, 28. Narragansett Bay Estuary Program, Providence, RI. Giese, G.S., Borrelli, M., Mague, S.T., Smith, C.G., Barger, P., 2015. Assessment of the Century Scale Sediment Budget of the Brewster Coast. Center for Coastal Studies, p. 26. Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management (CZM). 2015. Report of the Massachusetts Coastal Erosion Commission Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EOEEA). 2011, September. Climate Change Adaptation Report Parris et al. 2012, December. Global Sea Level Rise Scenarios for the United States National Climate Assessment. NOAA Technical Report OAR CPO-1 Raposa, K. 2014. Dieback events accelerate ongoing Spartina patens decline in Rhode Island salt marshes. Narragansett Bay Journal, 28. Narragansett Bay Estuary Program, Providence, RI. Walter, D.A., McCobb, T.D., Masterson, J.P., and Fienen, M.N., 2016, Potential effects of sea- level rise on the depth to saturated sediments of the Sagamore and Monomoy flow lenses on Cape Cod, Massachusetts: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2016– 5058, 55 p., http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/sir20165058. Warren, R.S. 2014. Salt marshes and sea levels in Eastern Long Island Sound. Narragansett Bay Journal, 28. Narragansett Bay Estuary Program, Providence, RI. Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy September 30, 2016 A - 1 APPENDIX A – LANDING PROFILE MATRIX This appendix provides a summary of information for the landings in a table format, where each line in the table is a landing, and the columns in the table provide the following information: • Landing: name of the landing. The Town has added/continues to add sand at the landings marked with an asterisk (*). Note: this is not an exhaustive list of Brewster’s coastal resources, which also include: o Drummer Boy/Eldridge (Cedar Hill Reserve), o Indian Spring, o Quivet Marsh Vista, and o Other conservation areas. • Parking Spaces: approximate number of town-owned parking spots at each landing. Note: Bike racks are available during the summer season at all landings with public parking. • Beach length (feet): approximate length of public beach (in feet) estimated at Mean High Water (MHW) level using geographic information service (GIS) aerial photography and town and state owned parcel information. At Linnell and Crosby landings, most of the beach area is owned by the State, so the beach length is separated between town and state owned property. • Beach width (feet): Approximate width of public beach (in feet) estimated at spring high tide using Google Earth aerial photo (5/23/15). • Handicap ( stands for Yes) o Parking: approximate number of handicap parking spots at a landing. o Wheelchair access: whether the landing is accessible to wheelchairs and/or people with limited mobility. Note: wheelchairs that facilitate beach/beach and water access are available and can be borrowed from the Council on Aging in Brewster. o Visual access: identifies whether the landing has a view of the ocean/marsh accessible from either a parked vehicle or a wheel-chair accessible path or platform. • Activity/ Use Type: swimming is available at all landings, and is not identified in the table. o Commercial shellfishing: whether the landing provides a coastal access point o Recreational shellfishing: most landings are open for recreational shellfishing, except Wing Island and Paine’s Creek. o Emergency Access: to the beach for boats and vehicles (e.g., fire, rescue) o Other: trails, marsh access, anchorages, etc… • Recent o Storm impacts: brief description of recent storm impacts to the landing. Note: impacts may be a recurring issue. o Adaptation: recent efforts by the Town to mitigate storm impacts. Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy September 30, 2016 A - 2 • Threat o Coastal erosion: brief summary of coastal erosion evaluation, including erosion/ accretion rates calculated using 1951 and 2009 shorelines from the MA Coastal Zone Management’s Shoreline Change Project. o Sea Level Rise: brief description of SLR impacts to parking, access, and the resource for the following scenarios:  MHW,  MHW + 2 ft (SLR or storm surge),  MHW + 4 ft (SLR or storm surge), and  MHW + 8 ft (SLR and storm surge). • Brewster Coastal Beach Access Survey Results: The results presented in the table reflect the percentage of people who selected an option compared to the total number of survey participants (i.e., including people who did not respond to a particular question). o 2016 Beach Visitors: Percentage of survey participants reporting visiting past summer (2016); o Favorite beach (%): Percentage of survey participants who ranked the beach as their favorite public beach; and o First choice for shuttle: Those who answered the survey question about what beaches they would shuttle to identified, as their first choice: Paines, Mant's, Breakwater Beach, and Crosby. It should be noted that approximately 38% of survey participants said they would not use a shuttle, 28% would if the trip were 5-10 minutes in duration, and 15% of participants did not answer the question. Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy September 30, 2016 A - 3 Landing Parking Spaces Beach length (feet) Beach width (feet) Handicap Activity/ Use Type Recent Threat Survey Results Parking Wheelchair access Visual Access Commercial shellfishing Recreational shellfishing Emergency access Other Storm impacts Adaptation Coastal erosion Sea Level Rise 2016 Beach visitors (%) Favorite beach (%) First choice for shuttle Wing Island No dedicated town parking > 3,000’ ~30’ 0 No No No No No • Two trails • Marsh access Some boardwalk planks disappear in storms Replaced missing/ damaged boardwalk planks • Limited erosion of island • Greater sediment movement at Creek inlet • Island footprint may shrink • Access to path may become flooded 24.6% 2.1% No Paine’s Creek * 19 > 500’ along revetment ~30’east of revetment 2 In 2016: Boardwalk, Dedicated wheelchair stored in shed  No No  • Small boat ramp • Anchorage on flats • Kayak racks (~50-60) • Old parking damaged in storm • Erosion of beach area • Retreat (parking) • Removal of tidal restriction • Beach nourishment • Erosion likely to continue • Scour of inner creek mouth • Revetment will provide limited protection • Access to beach floods at 4ft • Beach underwater at 8 ft • Parking impacted (50% at 4 ft, 100% at 8 ft) 59.3% 13.8% Yes Mants 37 ~1,000’ from Paine’s Creek revetment to end of parcel ~40’ 1  (small boardwalk)  Access point for aquaculture   • Anchorage on flats • Kayak racks • Dune destroyed most winters • Pavement at risk • Rebuilt dune • Dune/beach nourishment • Removed sand from parking • Fixed parking • Significant historical erosion (~1.7 ft/yr 1951- 2009) • Inland migration of western barrier beach to continue • Flood impacts parking (~50%) & access @ 4ft • Flood prevents access & parking (100%) @ 8ft • Beach underwater @ 8 ft 31.8% 8.0% Yes Saints * 38 ~180’ ~55’ 2 No (steps)  (vegeta- tion trimmed to 3 ft) No  (summer stocking program for shellfishing)  Small anchorage on flats • Steps erode • Bank getting steeper Stormwater improvements: • Infiltration galleries • Pipe for overflow • Past erosion (~0.7 ft/yr 1951-2009) likely to continue • Groins may eventually be undermined at landward end No expected impact to access or parking until after 8 ft (surge + SLR), unless erosion continues 34.2% 5.4% No Breakwater Landing * ~5 ~ 80’ ~10’ 0 Viewing platform  No  No Small anchorage on flats Erosion of foot of bank causing some slough • Replaced foot path with stairs & viewing platform • Bank nourishment • Plants & fences • Limited past erosion may increase • Marsh shrinking • Flood prevents access @ 4ft • Beach underwater at 8 ft 27.8% 1.5% No Breakwater Beach * 62 ~280’ ~60’ 2 + 1 spot near picnic area   Coastal access point for aquaculture   N/A • Dune erosion • Dune restoration • Retreat (parking) • Sand fencing and plantings to protect dune • Significant historical erosion (~1.8 ft/yr 1951- 2009) • Beach & dune likely to continue to retreat • Beach increasingly floods • Parking lot floods @ 8ft 45.3% 11.5% Yes Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy September 30, 2016 A - 4 Landing Parking Spaces Beach length (feet) Beach width (feet) Handicap Activity/ Use Type Recent Threat Survey Results Parking Wheelchair access Visual Access Commercial shellfishing Recreational shellfishing Emergency access Other Storm impacts Adaptation Coastal erosion Sea Level Rise 2016 Beach visitors (%) Favorite beach (%) First choice for shuttle Point of Rocks 3+8 ~ 100’ ~20’ No No  Access point for aquaculture   Small anchorage on flats • Limited erosion from stormwater • Dune & plantings provide water quality buffer Repair catch basin • Accretion 1951- 2009 (~0.7 ft/yr), more recent erosion • Shoreline retreat likely to continue • Low dunes likely to migrate landward • Limited impact, other than beach floods • Access to beach floods @ 8 ft 26.7% 4.4% No Ellis * 15 ~ 65’ ~30’ 1 Limited mobility ramp, but no wheelchair access  Access point for aquaculture  (popular location) Public shellfishing events spring and fall  N/A Erosion caused parking and catch basin damage Fall 2016 • Beach erosion likely to continue • Scour at end of revetment • Limited impact, other than beach floods • Access to beach and parking (~15%) flood @ 8 ft 30.0% 4.7% No Spruce Hill ~12 ~650’ ~30’ No No (long path to beach/ water) No No  No Trail • Dune erosion • Washed out stairs Access & stairs rebuilt • Historical erosion (~0.8 ft/yr 1951 – 2009) • Wetland behind barrier beach system may be lost to erosion Limited impact, other than beach flooding 10.8% 1.1% No Linnell 25 ~60’ (Town owned) ~1,200’ (State owned – east of Crosby) ~50’ 2  (handicap platform, boardwalk, seating)  • Access point for aquaculture • Possible aquaculture grants north of adjacent state beach   N/A Erosion • Beach nourishment • Project for capture & infiltration of stormwater runoff • Moderate erosion 1951-2009 (~0.3 ft/yr) • Recent accretion (>5 ft/yr) • Long term eroding trend may continue • Low-lying parking area subject to flooding and sand accumulation from dune • Access to beach and parking (~60%) flood @ 8 ft 38.8% 9.2% No Crosby 60 ~180’ (Town owned) >2,500’ (State owned – west of Crosby) ~50’ 3 No  (salt marsh) No   • Anchorage on flats • Marsh access Active dune regularly buries access Dig out excess sand from parking area • Significant accretion historically (~1.5 ft/yr 1951-2009) and recently (>6 ft/yr) • Accretion may continue on long term, but potentially impacted by storms and SLR • Access to parking and parking (~50%) flood @ 4 ft • All access and parking flood @ 8 ft 56.1% 27.5% Yes Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy September 30, 2016 B - 1 APPENDIX B – VISUAL REPRESENTATIONS OF COASTAL IMPACTS This Appendix provides visual maps representing historical shoreline change between 1951, 2009, and 2014, as well as potential flooding from sea level rise and storm surges. These visuals were presented to the BCAG in support of the development of this strategy. The visuals are provided for each of the Town’s public landings, and are ordered from West to East, as follows: Wing Island Paine’s Creek Mant’s Landing Saint’s Landing Breakwater Landing and Little Breakwater Point of Rocks Ellis Landing Spruce Hill Linnell Landing Crosby Landing ^_ ^_ ^_ MAIN S T R E E TPAINES CREEK ROAD LOWER R O A DCEDAR H I LL ROADCAPTAIN YOUNGS WAY Wing Island Paine's Creek ±0 650 Water elevation (flooding) Town Landing Roads 1951 shoreline 2009 shoreline 2014 shoreline MHW MHW + 2 ft (SLR or surge) MHW + 4 ft (SLR or surge) MHW + 8 ft (4 ft SLR + 4 ft surge) MHW + 10 ft (hurricane surge) Legend 1" = 650 feet Wing Island Brewster, MA Document Path: H:\Projects\2015\15153 Brewster Coastal Adaptation Plan\GIS\Maps\160803_Landings.mxd Date: 8/29/2016 B1 ^_ ^_P A I N E S C R E E K R O A D CEDAR HILL ROADPaine's Creek ±0 150 Water elevation (flooding) Town Landing Roads 1951 shoreline 2009 shoreline 2014 shoreline MHW MHW + 2 ft (SLR or surge) MHW + 4 ft (SLR or surge) MHW + 8 ft (4 ft SLR + 4 ft surge) MHW + 10 ft (hurricane surge) Legend 1" = 150 feet Paine's Creek Brewster, MA Document Path: H:\Projects\2015\15153 Brewster Coastal Adaptation Plan\GIS\Maps\160803_Landings.mxd Date: 8/29/2016 B2 ^_ ^_ ROBBINS HILL R O A D AMBERGRIS C IRCLEARNOLDS CARTWAYWARREN'S ROADSALT HOLE LANECEDAR HILL ROADMant's Landing ±0 250 Water elevation (flooding) Town Landing Roads 1951 shoreline 2009 shoreline 2014 shoreline MHW MHW + 2 ft (SLR or surge) MHW + 4 ft (SLR or surge) MHW + 8 ft (4 ft SLR + 4 ft surge) MHW + 10 ft (hurricane surge) Legend 1" = 250 feet Mant's Landing Brewster, MA Document Path: H:\Projects\2015\15153 Brewster Coastal Adaptation Plan\GIS\Maps\160803_Landings.mxd Date: 8/29/2016 B3 ^_ ^_ BYFIELD CARTWAY FRANKLIN CARTWAYROB B I N S R O A D ROBBINS HILL ROAD Saint's Landing ±0 150 Water elevation (flooding) Town Landing Roads 1951 shoreline 2009 shoreline 2014 shoreline MHW MHW + 2 ft (SLR or surge) MHW + 4 ft (SLR or surge) MHW + 8 ft (4 ft SLR + 4 ft surge) MHW + 10 ft (hurricane surge) Legend 1" = 150 feet Saint's Landing Brewster, MA Document Path: H:\Projects\2015\15153 Brewster Coastal Adaptation Plan\GIS\Maps\160803_Landings.mxd Date: 8/29/2016 B4 ^_ ^_ ^_ BREAKWATER ROAD GOVERNOR PRE N C E R O A D THE CHANNEL WAY±0 150 Water elevation (flooding) Town Landing Roads 1951 shoreline 2009 shoreline 2014 shoreline MHW MHW + 2 ft (SLR or surge) MHW + 4 ft (SLR or surge) MHW + 8 ft (4 ft SLR + 4 ft surge) MHW + 10 ft (hurricane surge) Legend 1" = 150 feet Breakwater Landing & Breakwater Beach Brewster, MA Document Path: H:\Projects\2015\15153 Brewster Coastal Adaptation Plan\GIS\Maps\160803_Landings.mxd B5 ^_ Date: 9/30/2016 Breakwater Landing Breakwater Beach ^_POINT OF ROCKS ROAD F O S T E R R O A D Point of Rocks ±0 150 Water elevation (flooding) Town Landing Roads 1951 shoreline 2009 shoreline 2014 shoreline MHW MHW + 2 ft (SLR or surge) MHW + 4 ft (SLR or surge) MHW + 8 ft (4 ft SLR + 4 ft surge) MHW + 10 ft (hurricane surge) Legend 1" = 150 feet Point of Rocks Brewster, MA Document Path: H:\Projects\2015\15153 Brewster Coastal Adaptation Plan\GIS\Maps\160803_Landings.mxd Date: 8/29/2016 B6 ^_ ^_ELLIS LAND ING ROAD Ellis Landing ±0 100 Water elevation (flooding) Town Landing Roads 1951 shoreline 2009 shoreline 2014 shoreline MHW MHW + 2 ft (SLR or surge) MHW + 4 ft (SLR or surge) MHW + 8 ft (4 ft SLR + 4 ft surge) MHW + 10 ft (hurricane surge) Legend 1" = 100 feet Ellis Landing Brewster, MA Document Path: H:\Projects\2015\15153 Brewster Coastal Adaptation Plan\GIS\Maps\160803_Landings.mxd Date: 8/29/2016 B7 ^_ ^_ ^_LINNELL LANDING ROADBEAVER ROAD PARTRIDGE CIRCLEBLUEBIRD CARTWAY Spruce Hill ±0 250 Water elevation (flooding) Town Landing Roads 1951 shoreline 2009 shoreline 2014 shoreline MHW MHW + 2 ft (SLR or surge) MHW + 4 ft (SLR or surge) MHW + 8 ft (4 ft SLR + 4 ft surge) MHW + 10 ft (hurricane surge) Legend 1" = 250 feet Spruce Hill Brewster, MA Document Path: H:\Projects\2015\15153 Brewster Coastal Adaptation Plan\GIS\Maps\160803_Landings.mxd Date: 8/29/2016 B8 ^_ ^_WEATHERVANE WAYLINNELL LANDING ROADLinnell Landing ±0 175 Water elevation (flooding) Town Landing Roads 1951 shoreline 2009 shoreline 2014 shoreline MHW MHW + 2 ft (SLR or surge) MHW + 4 ft (SLR or surge) MHW + 8 ft (4 ft SLR + 4 ft surge) MHW + 10 ft (hurricane surge) Legend 1" = 175 feet Linnell Landing Brewster, MA Document Path: H:\Projects\2015\15153 Brewster Coastal Adaptation Plan\GIS\Maps\160803_Landings.mxd Date: 8/29/2016 B9 ^_ ^_ ^_CROSBY LANE WEATHERVAN E W A Y Crosby Landing ±0 250 Water elevation (flooding) Town Landing Roads 1951 shoreline 2009 shoreline 2014 shoreline MHW MHW + 2 ft (SLR or surge) MHW + 4 ft (SLR or surge) MHW + 8 ft (4 ft SLR + 4 ft surge) MHW + 10 ft (hurricane surge) Legend 1" = 250 feet Crosby Landing Brewster, MA Document Path: H:\Projects\2015\15153 Brewster Coastal Adaptation Plan\GIS\Maps\160803_Landings.mxd Date: 8/29/2016 B10 ^_ Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy September 30, 2016 C - 1 APPENDIX C – SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION FROM PARTICIPANTS AND SMALL GROUPS The information presented in this Appendix is supplemental to Section 9 of this document, and was prepared by individual BCAG members and small groups of members, without technical review outside the BCAG. It is provided herein for information purposes, and was not verified for accuracy nor discussed by the full BCAG. Appendix C.1. Parking Space vs. Beach Space – Beach Crowdedness Indicator Sources: (1) HW numbers, plus actual count of new spaces at Crosby-Linnell (2) Lateral measurements of high tide line on Oliver Parking spaces Beach crowdedness Local Length spaces Pedstri'n notes regular handi Total (feet)per 100 ft load? Below Average Wing's Island 0 0 0 2977 0.00 low Spruce Hill 12 12 820 1.46 low Paine's + Mants 59 4 63 1937 3.25 medium Above Average Point of Rocks 11 275 4.00 low Crosby + Linnell 184 4 188 2991 6.29 high 48% now, over 50% in Fall Ellis Landing 17 2 19 220 8.64 medium Breakwater Landing 6 6 65 9.23 low Breakwater Beach 54 2 56 286 19.58 medium Saints Landing 36 2 38 182 20.88 low Crosby Marsh 0 0 0 1300 0.00 low not readily accessible Totals 368 14 393 11053 3.56 average “crowdedness” ratio Beach ↓ Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy September 30, 2016 C - 2 Appendix C.2. Sticker Sales for 2015 compared to Sticker Spaces Available NSP = Nickerson State Park (estimated from actual counts) SW = Salt Water FW = Fresh Water [NSP tags now also valid in all 91–95 new Crosby spaces] Source: Sticker Sales: Town; Parking Spaces: Horsley Witten + new count all of per day Unit Revenue 2015 or week Price Day 2544 52 $15 $38,160 Week 1769 253 $50 $88,450 Bw Green for one week 201 29 $20 $4,020 Season 6456 6456 $20 $129,120 Season Visitor 86 86 $150 $12,900 Totals 11,056 $272,650 Valid on average day 6789 Valid stickers/space 18.4 Estimate total likely stickers seeking space on a given day All sold for that day 52 2/3 sold for that week 188 Estimated NSP Tags 10 Total Day/Week 250 Remaining for seasonal 143 (SW) spaces for 6542 space left over holds 2.2% of seasonal stickers Include 123 pond spaces 266 (SW + FW) spaces for 6542 space left over holds 4.1% of seasonal stickers