Community group looks to better prepare Dalton for climate change

Oct. 13—Dalton, and the world, is already seeing the effects of climate change through more severe weather, said John Lugthart, a member of a group of local citizens studying the impact of climate change locally.

"That's why it's important to begin preparing for the future and figuring out what we are going to have to do to adjust to these changes," said Lugthart, who is a professor of biology at Dalton State College.

The group was put together as part of the Resilient Communities program, a partnership of the Open Space Institute and the Thrive Regional Partnership, which have selected four communities in Tennessee and Georgia, including Dalton, to participate in the pilot round of an effort to help communities plan for the increasing effects of climate change and other environmental challenges.

The other communities are southern Chattanooga; Spring City, Tennessee; and South Pittsburg, Tennessee.

The Open Space Institute is a New York City-based conservation group. The Thrive Regional Partnership is made up of local governments in 16 counties in Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia, including Whitfield County, aimed at planning for regional growth.

"Thrive and our partners at the Open Space Institute are working with several local community members in Dalton to build a custom resilience plan to mitigate environmental impact from severe weather, urban heat islands, etc.," said Rhett Bentley, director of communication for the Thrive Regional Partnership.

"Resilience projects can not only help with the impacts of climate change, but they can also enhance livability," he said. "Green space set aside for flood mitigation can be used as a park or community garden when it's not raining, for example. Or, trees planted to reduce urban heat islands could double as an edible forest."

Bentley said the program will take approximately 12 months to research, conduct community engagement and design the resilience plans.

"From there, participating communities will be eligible to receive seed funding to kick-start their plans, and leverage the process to tap into additional funding, such as state and federal funding that has earmarked dollars for resilience initiatives," Bentley said.

The goal is to reduce the impacts to communities from extreme weather by focusing on conservation and management. Bentley said the local teams are formed by people in each community with whom Thrive has worked in the past. Lugthart said he was recruited by Amy Hartline, recycling and education program coordinator for the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority and executive director of Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful, with whom he has worked in the past on various conservation efforts.

Dalton resident Kathryn Sellers said she was recruited by Lugthart.

The group has only had a couple of meetings so far, and Lugthart and Sellers said they have focused mainly on identifying the area's basic trouble spots and strengths.

"We live in a pretty good place," Sellers said. "We don't have hurricanes. We don't have too many wildfires. But we have rainstorms, and we sometimes have tornadoes. We have drought and other water issues. We have to be concerned about stormwater runoff and flooding on the Conasauga River and Coahulla Creek as well as streams that flow through our cities and neighborhoods. That's sort of what we were focusing on at the start."

Lugthart said the teams in each community are looking at their own local assets and local threats.

"They (the funders) have left it pretty open for us to figure out what we think are our biggest challenges and the most effective ways to deal with them," he said. "With a warming climate, there will be more rainfall, so flooding, stormwater management, will be a concern for most communities. We are already seeing the impact of more severe rain events."

Lugthart said it's too early to say what else the group will consider. But he said looking at building codes, to make sure structures can better withstand high winds and there are shelters for tornadoes, may be a possibility.