A Framework for Resilience is the first watershed-based climate change resiliency plan in the Commonwealth. The Deerfield River Watershed includes all or a portion of fourteen Franklin County towns: Ashfield, Buckland, Bernardston, Charlemont, Colrain, Conway, Deerfield, Greenfield, Hawley, Heath, Leyden, Monroe, Rowe, and Shelburne.
A watershed can provide a framework for understanding the interconnectedness of natural systems and the built environment as well as how climate change stressors can affect several towns simultaneously. FRCOG’s report provides the 14 towns of the Deerfield River Watershed with information about how the climate change stressors (changes in precipitation, rising temperatures, and extreme weather) will likely impact three important sectors: Natural Resources & Habitat, Human Health & Welfare, and Local Economy & Infrastructure.
The recommendations described in FRCOG’s Plan were designed to be:
- Achievable (within the power of towns and individuals to implement);
- Address multiple climate stressors and benefit multiple sectors; and
- Build resiliency at multiple scales (property, town, and watershed).
The reality of private land holdings and fourteen town boundaries in the Deerfield River Watershed require watershed-scale approaches to climate resiliency. Working in partnership with their watershed neighbors, towns can build a coalition of resilience that improves not only the climate resiliency of each watershed town but over time, creates a more resilient Deerfield River Watershed. This project was completed with grant funding received from the Baker-Polito administrations’ FY17 Community Compact Program’s Efficiency & Regionalization Grant Program.
Kimberly MacPhee, P.G., CFM
x130
