How to protect your riparian dream from climate change

Remember what Hurricane Sandy did to the Jersey Shore? One day that will happen here in Rhode Island, too.

“We’re planning for a sea level rise of 3-5 feet by 2100 – this could mean that within the lifetime of people born today, Rhode Island’s oceans might rise enough to swallow the beaches as we know them now,” said Laura Dwyer, spokeswoman for the state Coastal Resources Management Council. “Natural hazards like Sandy have also inflicted significant damage to homes and infrastructure along the coast.”

But CRMC is doing more than just offering up doomsday scenarios for beach bums and coastal property owners. The state agency tasked with protecting and managing the shoreline has also partnered with the URI Coastal Resources Center to create the:

Rhode Island Coastal Property Guide

It’s a 30-page booklet in the form of a webpage that explains the potential dangers and ecological realities to living the dream of owning ocean-front property. It’s also a handy checklist of everything you need to know to make sure your riparian slice of the American Dream is as safe – and as legal – as possible.

“People who live at the coast or own businesses there are telling me more and more that they are worried about what’s going to happen to their properties, and they want to know what to do about the impacts we are seeing from storms and sea level rise,” said Grover Fugate, CRMC executive director. “The guide gives people practical ways they can start adapting to these significant impacts associated with living near the shore.”

For example, the guide can help you glean if your property requires flood insurance (hint: if you think you need to check this out, there’s a good chance it does) and how one can – and cannot – protect their investment from a catastrophic weather event. (If it doesn’t seem like this would be good news for Rhode Island realtors, think again.)

“Rising sea level and extreme weather events resulting from global warming will have a significant impact on Rhode Island in the years to come,” said URI Graduate School of Oceanography Dean Bruce Corliss. “The Rhode Island Property Guide will provide timely and valuable information for residents and businesses to address these threats and is the result of the ongoing collaboration between URI CRC, CRMC, and Rhode Island Sea Grant to address the needs of Rhode Island’s coastal communities.”