BUILDING RESILIENCE IN THE WATERSHED
Regional Collaboration with the Charles River Flood Model
Flood Predictions Become Flood Solutions
Climate change isn’t coming–––it's here. Precipitation during heavy rain events increased by 55% between 1958 and 2016 in the northeastern United States. And, as our climate continues to warm, we are expecting even more severe storms.
What does this mean for you? More flooding. A few more inches of rainfall across the watershed has the potential to increase the Charles River’s volume by millions of gallons during a heavy storm. And, in our highly urbanized watershed that is home to over a million people, that means homes, businesses, critical infrastructure, and more are vulnerable to flood damage.
FLOOD SOLUTIONS IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
We Want to Hear From You!
LEARN ABOUT THE PRIORITY PROJECTS HERE:
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE PLAN:
Charles River Climate Adaptation & Mitigation Plan
In 2022, we published a report on two years of study with the Charles River Flood Model––which includes results of our analysis, solutions modeled, and priority projects identified like the ones discussed above.
Meet the Charles River Flood Model:
A watershed-scale simulation developed with twenty cities & towns to show how increased precipitation and inland flooding will affect our communities and test out mitigation solutions.
A Regional Collaboration.
Flooding doesn’t follow political boundaries–––the Charles River Flood Model demonstrates the regional impacts of flooding, including how upstream activities can reduce or exacerbate downstream flooding.
This initiative is a collaboration between Charles River Watershed Association, twenty cities and towns of the Charles River Climate Compact (CRCC), Weston & Sampson, and Communities Responding to Extreme Weather (C.R.E.W). With a regional outlook, we're able to better understand inland flooding impacts and determine the most effective solutions.
Do you see your town? Participating communities include Arlington, Dedham, Franklin, Holliston, Medway, Millis, Natick, Needham, Newton, Norfolk, Sherborn, Watertown, Wellesley, Weston, Wrentham, Boston, Cambridge, Dover, Bellingham, Waltham.
Developing the Flood Model
In 2021, we completed the first phase, the development of the Flood Model for the upper and middle Charles River Watershed. Future climate storm scenarios for the CRFM were determined following the recommendation of the state’s Resilient Mass Action Team (RMAT).
Read the final report for Phase I of Building Resilience in the Watershed, published in June 2021, to learn more about how we developed the model and what we discovered. (Appendix)
Identifying Flood Solutions
In 2022, we completed the second phase, which used the Charles River Flood Model to identify over fifty opportunities for flood mitigation projects and select three priority interventions in Waltham, Newton, and Medway.
We updated the flood model to add finer details, completed additional model runs, and updated the storm event modeling to use Intensity Duration Frequency (IDF) Projections from Cornell University.
Building Resilience in the Watershed Initiative
The Charles River Flood Model confirms that flooding will be considerably worse by 2070. Today, a so-called "10-year storm", which has a 10% chance of occurring in any given year, causes about 7,660 acres of flooding under current conditions. But, by 2070, due to climate change, the same storm event will flood 10,670 acres, an increase of over 3,000 acres that currently do not flood.
Our watershed is not prepared for this scale of inundation. But, we are rising to this challenge.
Building Resilience in the Watershed Initiative's mission is to bring us to a climate-resilient future. Using the Charles River Flood Model, we identified fifty opportunity sites for future flood mitigation projects and developed an accompanying Resilience Toolkit to support local adaptation efforts. We will continue to advocate for solutions at the local, state, and federal level so we can build resilient communities together.
Learn how the flood model was developed in Charles River Flood Model Part I: Stormwater Modeling
Learn about Green Infrastructure solutions in Charles River Flood Model Part II: Nature-Based Solutions
Priority Solutions
The Charles River Flood Model was used to model the impact of three types of nature-based solutions in fifty potential opportunities for flood storage. The nature-based solutions explored were building green stormwater infrastructure, reducing impervious cover, land conservation, and increase in tree canopy. Of the fifty opportunity sites modeled, the project team has identified and developed concept designs for eight priority interventions for flood storage: Hardy Pond, Waltham, Waltham Priority Impact Area, Albemarle Park, Newton, Longfellow Pond in Wellesley, Weston Town Center, Natick High School, Oakland Park, Medway, and Milford Priority Impact Area.
LEARN HOW WE IDENTIFY PROJECTS:
NATICK & WELLESLEY:
NEWTON:
WATHAM, WESTON & MILFORD:
HARDY POND, WALTHAM & MEDWAY
Community Engagement
For the past three years, we've been working with Communities Responding to Extreme Weather (C.R.E.W.) to bring the Charles River Flood Model to you! From lively virtual events to detailed surveys, interviews, tabling, and presenting at in-person community events we've been able to meaningfully connect with hundreds of community members and raise awareness about climate preparedness and solutions.
With a focus on educating and empowering our residents, our hyper-local outreach allowed us to reach even more of you in the past year and share our efforts to bring nature-based solutions to your neighborhood.
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