Title
Approval of a Resolution Authorizing an Interlocal Agreement with the Port of Olympia and LOTT Related to Sea Level Rise
Recommended Action
Committee Recommendation:
Not referred to a committee.
City Manager Recommendation:
Move to approve the resolution authorizing the Interlocal Agreement between the City of Olympia, Port of Olympia, and the LOTT Clean Water Alliance to establish an interjurisdictional governance framework to address sea level rise, and authorizing the Interim City Manager to sign the agreement.
Report
Issue:
Whether to approve an Interlocal Agreement with the Port of Olympia and the LOTT Clean Water Alliance establishing an interjurisdictional governance framework to address sea level rise.
Staff Contact:
Eric Christensen, Water Resources Director, Public Works Department, 360.570.3741
Presenter(s):
Eric Christensen, Water Resources Director
Background and Analysis:
Downtown Olympia is the social, cultural, historic, and economic core of the City. The 450-acre downtown area contains vital infrastructure such as Olympia City Hall, the Budd Inlet Treatment Plant, the Port of Olympia marine terminal, and the emergency vehicle corridor between west and east Olympia.
While our downtown's extensive shoreline helps make Olympia an extraordinary city, it also makes us vulnerable to flooding. In the coming decades, sea level rise will cause flooding downtown that could lead to property damage and loss of public services. With just 12 inches of sea level rise, a 100-year flood event could occur every other year.
The City of Olympia has been engaged in climate change and sea level rise planning since the early 1990s. Considerable work has been completed to understand the implications sea level rise will have for downtown Olympia. Most recently, the City collaborated with the LOTT Clean Water Alliance and the Port of Olympia to produce the Olympia Sea Level Rise Response Plan, adopted in March 2019.
The Plan recommended that we prepare...
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