Coastal resiliency: Public's input wanted for Sandwich village climate change strategies

SANDWICH — A state coastal resiliency grant is funding the lion's share of a community outreach project to help the town develop strategies to protect parts of the Historic Sandwich Village area from climate change and sea-level rise.

Residents who wish to participate may complete a survey and comment on interactive maps on the Natural Resources Department page of the town website, at www.sandwichmass.org.

The online survey is designed to gather answers and comments to help the town determine public perspectives and learn what residents are most concerned about related to the future of the coast.

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Online survey open for comments

The Massachusetts Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program awarded the $87,000 grant for the project, which must be completed by June 30. The total cost is $129,000.

Public comment will be open for as long as possible, said David DeConto, director of natural resources.

This is the fourth coastal resiliency grant the town has received. In 2018, Sandwich used grant funds to assess the town’s infrastructure to see which areas were prone to flooding and storm events.

Parts of the Historic Sandwich Village area were identified during that process, specifically from the fire station on Route 6A to town hall on Main Street — which is why the town is now focused on that area. Additionally, focusing on a smaller, defined area made the town more competitive for the current grant, officials said.

“We know that just through sea-level rise, and the deterioration of our barrier beaches, that we’re subject to flooding events that aren’t necessarily associated with storms, but are worse during storms — and the worst storms for us are nor’easters,” said DeConto.

To get a sense of how much Sandwich has been affected by climate change and a rising sea level, one can look at flood zones.

In the 1980s, flood zones were about one mile away from Cape Cod Bay, or near Route 6A. Currently, flood zones are a half-mile to a mile inland of Route 6A.

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Strategies to protect Historic Sandwich Village from floods

The town will ask residents for assistance in developing both short-term and long-term strategies. Currently the town is discussing short-term strategies to protect the fire station, such as putting up temporary barriers. A long-term solution would be moving the building elsewhere, said DeConto.

The town is also looking at ways to deal with marsh migration, including identifying areas where the marsh could be allowed to move so that it will not spill over and flood other areas.

Sandwich has had incidences of severe flooding in past years, said DeConto, mostly associated with nor’easters. During storms in 2015, 2017 and 2018, there were times when parts of Sandwich were impassable due to flooding, he said.

The town’s biggest fear is the possibility of a nor'easter that would happen at the same time as high tide.

“If we ever get the 12 feet of water we could from an astronomical high tide and get a four-foot storm surge on top of it (that would be a problem because) ... most of our areas are 13-feet and 14-feet elevation, and now we’re talking about a wall of water that’s 16 feet,” said DeConto.

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Art exhibit planned

To help with public outreach, the town will team up with Heritage Museums & Gardens to tell the story of Sandwich and climate change through art. Jennifer Madden, a curator at Heritage, is putting together a spring/summer exhibit that will show how Sandwich’s natural resources have been affected by climate change over the past century.

The Sandwich Chamber of Commerce and the council on aging are also due to assist with outreach.

Town officials are looking at other grants through the Cape Cod Commission, and state and federal governments to finance the replacement of culverts and raise roadways to keep them from flooding during storms.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Sandwich MA public outreach to develop protections from sea-level rise