Author(s)

Frederick Bloetscher^*, Michael Wood

Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatics Engineering, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, USA.

Local communities want to know the cost of improvements needed to their drainage system based on projected sea level rise. Prior research demonstrates that in coastal areas, groundwater will rise with sea level. As a result the combination of groundwater levels and tidal data must be used to predict local impacts of sea level rise on the drainage system. However, it would appear to complicate the situation if the amount of data available for making sea level rise projections with groundwater is limited. The objectives of this task were to identify available data in a data limited community, compare the available data, assess the impact of sea level rise on the community, and its impact on the stormwater system, identify vulnerable areas in the City, provide an estimate of long-term costs for improvements, and provide a toolbox of strategies to employ at the appropriate time. The project was conducted using ArcGIS tools to import tidal, groundwater, topographic LiDAR and infrastructure improvements into GIS software and performing analysis based on current data. The cost of improvements was based on applying actual 2015 construction costs in the subject comments across a larger vulnerable area. It was found that the data sources provided similar results, despite different timelines and dates so did not interfere with the subsequent analysis. The data revealed that over $400 million in current dollars might be needed to address stormwater issues arising from sea level rise before 2100.

Sea Level Rise, Groundwater, LiDAR, GIS, Stormwater, Infrastructure

Bloetscher, F. and Wood, M. (2016) Assessing the Impacts of Sea Level Rise Using Existing Data. Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection, 4, 159-183. doi: 10.4236/gep.2016.49012.