Sea Level Rise Projections for Connecticut

As of October 2018, CIRCA released the full Final Report, Sea Level Rise in Connecticut, that informed the local sea level rise projections and planning recommendations released as a draft on October 19, 2017. 

Sea level rise is a well-established impact of a warming planet due to expanding warming oceans and melting ice currently trapped on land. In 2012 NOAA released global sea level rise scenarios that were referenced in Connecticut state statute requiring that sea level rise be considered in state and local plans of conservation and development and natural hazard mitigation plans. That same statute charged UConn CIRCA with updating the scenarios to be local for the state of Connecticut. On October 19, 2017 CIRCA released the local sea level rise scenarios in a public meeting. Based on the scenarios CIRCA recommends that Connecticut plan for the upper end of the range of values projected of sea level rise or up to 20 inches (50cm) of sea level rise higher than the national tidal datum in Long Island Sound by 2050 and that it is likely that sea level will continue to rise after that date. The Institute also recommended that the scenarios be updated at least every 10 years to incorporate the best available science and new observations. The public meeting also included a presentation on policy and planning recommendations on how to incorporate sea level rise into state and municipal planning ordinances and floodplain management.

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