By Dan Patrinos

Over the next five years, coastal communities along the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River are expected to spend nearly $2 billion combating damages from climate change, according to a survey of United States and Canadian government officials.

The binational survey of 241 cities, villages and other jurisdictions showed that damage from climate change will cost at least $1.94 billion, with shoreline communities having already spent $878 million during the last couple of years responding to challenges involving high water, erosion and flooding.

The Illinois-based Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, which sponsored the survey, said the figures represent a fraction of the true need as not all shoreline jurisdictions are reflected in the total projected costs. The survey, conducted from March through May 2021, did not include private property, whose owners are reporting damage and threats of harm to homes and land.

U.S. community and state governments expect federal assistance from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, passed by Congress and signed by President Biden on Nov. 6, 2021, to help pay costs of preparing for, restoring and protecting structures and coastal installations damaged and threatened by severe weather conditions.

“While water levels in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River basin are naturally variable with cyclical highs and lows, climate change is exacerbating these fluctuations, with water levels reaching record highs in recent years,” said Walter Sendzik, chair of the Cities Initiative, in a statement issued by the organization. He is mayor of St. Catharines, Ontario, in the Niagara region. “High water levels, paired with severe storm events and wave action, are leading to greater erosion and flooding that threaten public and private properties, critical infrastructure, and recreation and tourism amenities in shoreline communities.”

Tom Barrett, who was Milwaukee’s mayor and a member of the Cities Initiative at the time the survey, said:

“Communities around the Great Lakes face a growing crisis, and we need both the federal governments of the U.S. and Canada to assist with the necessary investments. Our coastal infrastructure is vital to the economic and recreational health of our communities, and coordinated action is required.”

Jonathan Altenberg, executive director of the Cities Initiative, said in an email that the metro Milwaukee area will experience an estimated $50 million in damages over five years, Sheboygan $60 million, and Wisconsin’s Kewaunee County $6 million.

“Small and medium-sized cities are understaffed and lack specific expertise in these issues and are struggling to gain needed funds to combat the damage,” he said. “Private property damage wasn’t measured in this study, but we expect those numbers to be much worse.”

Altenberg said that Milwaukee was a model in planning for climate action, but most cities don’t have plans. “They are simply unprepared for the impact coming their way.”

Here are other key survey findings, by category:

Top concerns and priorities

–– More than 95% of respondents were highly or moderately concerned about coastal issues facing their community.

Communication and Engagement

–– Nearly 99% of respondents indicated a consistent or increasing public interest in addressing coastal issues.

–– More than 90% of respondents indicated an interest in participating in future training, developing expertise, or partnership opportunities related to coastal management.

Resources and Support

–– Only 27% of jurisdictions rated their staff as being highly knowledgeable about coastal issues, and only 11% reported having high level expertise to respond to those issues.

–– Communities noted that support from state and federal agencies as very important to their efforts to respond to coastal issues; however, current support is not meeting the needs of coastal communities. (This response was made prior to the enactment of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in November.)

Planning and Response

–– Most communities were already taking action to complete comprehensive planning updates; collect data to inform their decision-making; update zoning codes and ordinances; and implement coastal projects to strengthen or resist extreme weather effects and resilience practices.

–– Only half of respondents were incorporating strategies to anticipate, accommodate, and adapt to changing coastal conditions in their planning efforts and noted a lack of technical expertise, low staff capacity, and a lack of funding.

–– Of a range of coastal resilience planning, communities were severely behind in their efforts to develop climate action plans, with only 30% of respondents having started or completed progress. Of those who had not taken action, 25% indicated that developing a climate action plan was not a priority for their community.

The Coastal Resilience Needs Assessment Survey was done in partnership with the University of Illinois Applied Research Institute. Nearly 300 responses were received from 241 jurisdictions in eight U.S. states and two Canadian provinces that border the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River.

The Cities initiative is a “coalition of over 120 U.S. and Canadian mayors and local officials working to advance the protection and restoration of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River.” The Great Lakes supply about 80% of North America’s surface freshwater, provide drinking water for 40 million people, and are the basis for a strong regional economy, according to the Cities Initiative.

For more information about the Great Lakes’ record-breaking water levels read this previous report on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ studies of the Great Lakes water level cycles.

Photo at top of page and Home page:

An eroded section of road and shoreline is shown at Potawatomi State Park near Sturgeon Bay, Wis., on Nov. 6, 2021. Fluctuating lake levels have damaged several state parks on Lake Michigan. Photo Credit and Caption: Dee J. Hall / Wisconsin Watch

More photos:

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Dan Patrinos is a retired journalist and a member of the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society. He lives in Milwaukee.