SPR-696: Preliminary Study of Climate Adaptation for the Statewide ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

o OES is particularly responsive to environmental issues and climate changeimpacts on ADOT’s system.Areas for Future Research for Climate Adaptation PlanningThe following ideas emerged as areas for further research in futures stages of work on climateadaptation within ADOT. Focus group participants brainstormed a variety of research andapplications to this initial preliminary assessment: Update the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) floodplainmap. Having more data would improve and help engineers when designing roads. Followup with drainage engineers. They use rainfall intensities in their model for design. If theseare going to change (i.e., NOAA’s map was based on old data), updating the informationwith current data on drainage could be beneficial. The floodplain maps are not great;ADOT is using Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) maps, whichare not accurate for Arizona. The size and exact boundaries of the floodplain, plus theassociated risks, are uncertain. Some ASU researchers are trying to update these maps. Make the linkage between climatological events and economic impact by developing aguidebook for climate adaptation at ADOT. For ADOT’s purpose, guidelines do not haveto set thresholds. Although a guideline should have structure, do not force the use ofstandard formulas, but apply a more risk-based approach. Create protocols for dealing with specific climate events. Right now, ADOT’s response isad hoc. In particular, it would be worthwhile to create protocols for dust events. Make connections with MAG and other COGs if the path of adaptation planning isselected. Talk about climate impacts more across disciplines. Enable structural engineers andpeople who focus on drainage to have better perspectives (and longer time horizons in thedesign process), and talk about these impacts. Connectivity and roadside managementand landscaping also are key elements that could be improved by better coordination. Erosion and roadside vegetation problems need to be addressed. Develop a policy toaddress this issue as it will likely worsen. Connect with FEMA and bring them into ADOT’s work, especially on route planningand emergency response. This could help with greater access to funding as well.Develop scenarios for adaptation.There could be a role for agencywide or project-specific performance measures. TheFHWA is looking to streamline the process at some time. The FHWA just givesguidance, but still has to be interpreted by the State.The number one issue is the availability and reliability of the data. Those who areworking to give us the most up-to-date data have to put in more time into generatingsomething we can grasp – such as rainfall, temperature, etc. Currently, the data is notvery useful. It is not at the level where we can put it to use. Once you start thinking aboutthe data, then you can start thinking about alternatives — one roadway would be a poorchoice in abandoning a particular alignment if all routes are equal.Perhaps climate adaptation needs to go into the National Environmental Policy Act(NEPA) process — are there ways to bring climate adaptation into environmentalreview?48
It would be useful to have an interdisciplinary forum, but it would require followthrough,and it would be important to have a budget analyst involved with the discussion.For instance, construction and maintenance could both like to increase culvert side, but abudget analyst would have to make the tradeoff in cost. No one is currently doing theanalysis for routine roadway maintenance versus deterioration costs, and whether to fundnew construction. One major challenge is the “silo effect” between construction andmaintenance. Construction and planning are funded because they lead to ribbon-cuttings,whereas maintenance is often left with little budget to keep up the project. Therecurrently is a lack of communication to deal with these problems.Collect information on future climate projections on specific regions to see what happenswith temperature and seasonality and precipitation at a very local district level — whendo certain impacts take place, and what is the magnitude?With new MAP-21 legislation, there are huge efforts on performance measures related tothe LRTP. Developing performance measures with climate impacts (mitigation oradaptation) could be a fruitful way to raise awareness and provide linkage to other workwithin ADOT.Currently, there is no such thing as an ecosystem development guideline. However, thesewould help tell us how we can adapt. It would be great to have maintenance department’sinput and figure out the long-term impacts. Include topics such as wildlife connectivity toprovide a holistic view.Work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to evaluate the design of certain facilities.Currently, decisions on designs are made according to a manual, but this may beformulated using outdated assumptions, etc. and sometimes result in the overdesign ofcertain facilities. If features are overdesigned, the engineering and maintenance teams donot have an incentive to change it. Changing these assumptions could reduce costs. Anadaptation plan should review existing design guides.49
Page 1:
Preliminary Study ofClimate Adaptat
Page 4 and 5:
This report was funded in part thro
Page 7 and 8:
CONTENTSEXECUTIVE SUMMARY .........
Page 9 and 10:
LIST OF FIGURESFigure 1. ADOT Clima
Page 11 and 12: LIST OF ACRONYMSAASHTO ............
Page 13: ACKNOWLEDGMENTSThe authors are espe
Page 16 and 17: key climate-related impacts are pro
Page 18 and 19: transportation system in Arizona, t
Page 20 and 21: finally summarized the findings. As
Page 23 and 24: CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEWThis re
Page 25 and 26: Source: National Oceanic and Atmosp
Page 27 and 28: DroughtsDiminished water resources
Page 29 and 30: In 2008, the Transportation Researc
Page 31 and 32: Table 2. Projected Climate Impacts
Page 33 and 34: GovernorArizonaDepartmentof Transpo
Page 35 and 36: 21Table 3. Matrix of Climate Impact
Page 37 and 38: Table 3. Matrix of Climate Impacts,
Page 39 and 40: Climate Change Network contains a n
Page 41: states may invite experts from the
Page 44 and 45: The purpose of the focus groups was
Page 47 and 48: CHAPTER 4. DISCUSSION OF FINDINGSBy
Page 49 and 50: TopicCurrent ADOTResources for Clim
Page 51 and 52: Relevance of Climate Change Impacts
Page 53 and 54: 60%50%40%30%20%10%0%a.Short-term (l
Page 55 and 56: There is a “season” for putting
Page 57 and 58: Arizona State Legislature, the Gove
Page 59 and 60: convince the council members and el
Page 61: might be higher for certain precipi
Page 66 and 67: When designing new infrastructure,
Page 68 and 69: Metropolitan Transportation Commiss
Page 71 and 72: REFERENCESArizona Department of Tra
Page 73: Robles, M. D. and C. Enquist. 2011.
Page 76 and 77: University Corporation for Atmosphe
Page 78 and 79: While complete reports are not yet
Page 80 and 81: adaptation program development effo
Page 85 and 86: APPENDIX C. SURVEY RESPONSES BY QUE
Page 87 and 88: Table 8. Question 2B ResponsesRespo
Page 89 and 90: Table 9. Question 4B ResponsesRespo
Page 91 and 92: Relevance of Climate ImpactsPercent
Page 93 and 94: Table 10. Question 5B Responses (Co
Page 103 and 104: Table 12. Question 7 Responses (Con
Page 105 and 106: APPENDIX D. INTERVIEW AND FOCUS GRO
Page 107 and 108: FOCUS GROUP SIGN-IN SHEETTitleElect
Page 109 and 110: esponses provided us with valuable
Page 111 and 112: 4. Which departments typically mana
Page 113 and 114:
Finally, if participants think of a
show all

SPR-696: Preliminary Study of Climate Adaptation for the Statewide ...

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?