Building Partnerships for Climate and Health Programs FINAL REPORT

Transcription

1 Building Partnerships for Climate and Health Programs FINAL REPORT 8/30/12 Prepared for: The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials 2231 Crystal Drive Arlington, VA Prepared By: New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services Environmental Health Program 29 Hazen Drive Concord, NH 03302

2 Introduction This funding opportunity provided New Hampshire with the resources necessary to bring more public health impacts to the climate change discussion. We worked with the NH Department of Health and Human Services, Regional Planning Commissions and the University of NH and Dartmouth College to examine the health impacts from climate change. This funding allowed us to continue the work initiated by former ASTHO grant awards. Based on the results of our Needs Assessment (funding for this came from a previous ASTHO grant), our primary goal for the past year was to develop and enhance organizational systems through planning, education, training, and capacity building to focus existing public health preparedness resources on climate change adaptation. The primary activities conducted during the funding period focused on our three Strategic Priorities. These included: 1.) Mobilize partnerships to identify and prepare for the public health impacts from climate change. 2.) Inform, educate and empower communities about climate change and public health issues. 3.) Assure adequate climate change and public health capacity and resources. Achievements The primary activities conducted during the funding period included: 1) To continue to build capacity with the NH Coastal Adaptation Workgroup and bring human health impacts into the on-going municipal educational forums. The Rockingham Planning Commission will be conducting vulnerability assessments of coastal communities. Through that work we will identify potential public health impacts, vulnerabilities and geospatial areas of concern; as well as recommend actions to build capacity, adapt to and minimize negative health impacts. During this funding period the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services Environmental Health Program (DES) worked with the NH Coastal Adaptation Workgroup (CAW) to further develop capacity and educate municipal officials about the potential public health impacts. The FEMA funding expected by the Rockingham Planning Commission did not get allocated so CAW was not able to work with the entire suite of coastal communities. We did work with the community of Newfields to assess their vulnerabilities to climate change impacts and prioritize their areas of concern. Through this process, community members chose to focus on stormwater management, to minimize flooding and personal and community preparedness, to protect public health. The public health and community preparedness was the section I facilitated. Our community work resulted in a number of action items. These included: Develop a community calendar to highlight emergency preparedness actions. Designate the school as a shelter for cooling, heating, and events which disable electricity. Organize a community generator purchase through the local Lowe s. This would enable a volume discount so residents could get personal generators at a discounted price. This effort

3 would also include the acquisition of a generator for the school, now the designated community emergency shelter. Establish a buddy system in the community so neighbors would know who in their neighborhood had health complications, was elderly, needed oxygen or other electrical dependant health care. Utilize this buddy system before, during, and after severe weather events to ensure the most vulnerable populations are cared for. Establish a Ping account which provides emergency information and notifications via cell phone text. 2) Work with the City of Portsmouth in their initiative to conduct a City-wide climate change vulnerability assessment. Specifically engage with the Portsmouth Health Department to provide education about human health impacts and incorporate those into the Vulnerability Assessment. The Rockingham Planning Commission has been the leader in the first steps of this vulnerability assessment. This included working with the Health Department to bring awareness to the potential public health impacts associated with climate change. Educational forums were held to highlight impacts on public health from storm surge, coastal flooding, extended periods of warm weather and disruption of infrastructure. Cameron Wake a research professor at UNH presented the results from a new report entitled Climate Change in the Great Bay and Piscataqua Region. 3) Work with the NH Coastal Adaptation Workgroup (CAW) and the New England Environmental Finance Center to engage in a modeling project aimed at assessing the vulnerability of community infrastructure to storm surge and sea level rise hazards in the Hampton-Seabrook Estuary. Using a modeling tool called COAST (Coastal Adaptation to Sea-Level-Rise Tool) we will specifically look at residential homes, public health and economic impacts of various adaptation scenarios. This project was an excellent example of how visualization can enhance community understanding. Using the COAST modeling tool, CAW and the New England Environmental Finance Center were able to show on Google maps the impacts of various sea level rise and coastal storm surge scenarios on residential homes, roads, and other important infrastructure (see examples below). Residents and decision makers from the towns which surround the Hampton Seabrook Estuary (Hampton, Seabrook and Hampton Falls) gathered for a series of 3 meetings to discuss their priority assets and what they would like to see in the modeling exercise. The process was centered on a GIS-based cost-benefit analysis of adaptation vs. no action. Analysis was depicted to compare adaptation actions and associated costs and what percent would be from storm surge (SS) vs. sea level rise (SLR). See Table 1 below as example of presentation of analysis.

4 Table 1. Cumulative Expected Damages in Hampton, Seabrook, and Hampton Falls, New Hampshire through 2050 (no-action scenarios) 2050 SLR Scenario Adaptation Cost (M) Real Estate Damage % Damage from SS % Damage from SLR No SLR No action $0 $463,400, % 0% Low SLR No action $0 $503,504,672 85% 15% High SLR No action $0 $550,047,454 82% 18% Results of costs were depicted in extruded polygons. The red shows costs from SLR and a mean high tide. The blue depicts costs associated with storm surge (the bigger the polygon, the larger the cost). Lost Real Estate Value for Scenario: Year 2100, High Sea-Level Rise, 100-Year Storm.

5 The COAST Tool also analyzed evacuation routes with the intent of protecting public health. The community of Seabrook has a nuclear power plant. Compromised Evacuation Routes in Hampton. The tool was also able to demonstrate vulnerabilities in the transportation network from the spatial extent of flooding damages. This project had excellent public engagement. The results provided the community with a better understanding of how to prioritize adaptation actions. They learned that the damages and costs associated with storm surge are higher and more urgent then those associated with sea level rise. The 3 neighboring communities want to continue to work together with CAW in regional efforts for shared infrastructure. They will work individually with CAW members to further prioritize their town specific adaptation actions for their most vulnerable assets. 4) Work with Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital in Lebanon, NH to organize local businesses, municipalities, Mascoma Valley Health Initiative, Upper Valley Regional Planning Commission, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, Vital Communities, New England Center for Emergency Preparedness and community members from both NH and Vermont to form an Adaptation Group. The Upper Valley Region (of both NH and VT) was hit pretty severely by Hurricane Irene. Alice Peck Day Hospital is interested in organizing a participatory-focused Upper Valley Adaptation Collaborative. Together we will focus on geographically-specific priority health threats and vulnerable population groups.

6 The Upper Valley Adaptation Workgroup, organized by Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital, has continued to grow during this past year. Featured speakers focused on climate data for NH and the science of climate change, anticipated health impacts from a changing climate and information from the NH Insurance Department on how homeowner s insurance companies are responding to and preparing for climate change. The group s growth has been tremendous in terms of knowledge and plans for future public engagement. Our role as co-chair has served as an opportunity to bring state-wide information to the upper valley and provide a potential framework for future public outreach. 5) Work with the NH Department of Health and Human Services to develop a Hazard Vulnerability Assessment as part of their CDC award this year. This Hazard Vulnerability Assessment, unlike others that have been done locally, will focus on the impacts to public health, health care and behavioral health systems. This will be done in Rockingham and Strafford counties and will incorporate local climate change data, projections and impacts. The NH Department of Health and Human Services held a series of meetings to develop their Hazard Vulnerability Assessment. Our participation in their meetings provided perspective from the previous work we have done regarding climate change impacts on public health. We provided an opportunity for their work to dovetail into the other work being done in NH. The final meeting is scheduled for September where the final draft will be presented. 6) Work with the Department of Environmental Services to incorporate climate change into the various program areas. Through working with the Climate, Energy, Adaptation and Natural Resources team, in addition to public health adaptation we will focus on land use issues to support healthier communities. The work we have accomplished within our agency includes programmatic changes to a number of programs to better protect public health in these changing climatic conditions. By incorporating new precipitation numbers and fluvial erosion hazards we will better protect drinking water supplies that originate from rivers, as well as communities that reside near rivers. We have assessed upcoming updates to our rules and will incorporate changes to reflect current climate conditions. Updated precipitation numbers are being utilized by our engineers in our dam management program, our alteration of terrain program, and other similar programs that require permitting based on rainfall. This is an on-going effort which will include an outreach program for all staff. 7) Conduct training programs to develop skills to detect, track, respond, and develop interventions to reduce the human health effects of climate change. 2/23/12 Hampton, Seabrook and Hampton Falls municipal officials meeting regarding the COAST model and community engagement. 3/21/12 Southern New Hampshire University Environmental Science Class Climate Change and Public Health impacts 3/29/12 Coastal Adaptation Workgroup s Workshop Water, Weather, Climate and Community - Climate Change in the Piscataqua / Great Bay Region: Past, Present, and Future

7 3/31/12 Local Energy Solutions Conference State of New Hampshire Climate Change Adaptation Initiatives 4/9/12 University of New Hampshire Environmental Health Class Climate Change and Public Health 4/12/12 Upper Valley Adaptation Workgroup meeting Climate Change and Public Health Impacts 6/2/12 Volunteer Lake Assessment Program Conference Climate Change Impacts to Lakes and Public Health 6/20/12 Newfields municipal workshop Climate Change Science and Potential Impacts in Your Community 6/29/12 Homeland Security and Emergency Management Annual State-wide Conference - Preparing for the Storm, Adapting to Climate Impacts within Your Community 6/28/12 Hampton, Seabrook, Hampton Falls meeting community vulnerability assessment 7/19/12 Newfields municipal workshop hazard vulnerability assessment and community preparedness 7/23/12 Northwood community meeting - Climate Change Impacts to Lakes and Public Health 8/14/12 New London Messer Pond Association Meeting Climate Change Impacts to Lakes and Public Health 8/16/12 Newfields municipal workshop Community preparedness planning and implementation Summary The work completed with this funding provided us with the opportunity to continue implementing a functional, effective and sustainable prevention and preparedness system for addressing the public health impacts of climate change in New Hampshire. This work also served as a template for other state and local public health programs who seek to create and implement their own plan to prepare for and address the public health impacts of climate change. Lessons Learned Communities can get overwhelmed when learning about impacts to public health. It is very important not to produce a fear response but to support them in utilizing existing planning tools to adapt to the changing climatic conditions. Utilizing examples of how we are already adapting which are local and easily understood are very helpful. In NH, a number of homeowners own generators because of the frequency of power outages. That is an adaptation strategy we have already incorporated into our lives. Communities have replaced undersized culverts and limited development in flood prone areas to protect public health from the impacts of flooding. Helping communities and individuals understand that we are already seeing the impacts of a changing climate and we are already adapting, helps to empower both residents and municipal officials. Public engagement is more successful when trust from the group providing the education is well established (i.e. working with the Coastal Adaptation Workgroup in educational forums).

8 As new groups form, it is important to establish a baseline understanding of climate science and the potential impacts on public health (i.e. working with the Upper Valley Adaptation Workgroup). In public forums it is important to be prepared for potential debate about climate science and have a planned response. In one of our forums (Newfields) a man wanted to start a debate about climate science. Luckily we were prepared to direct the discussion in an appropriate manner and keep the meeting under control.