2018 Conference

Individual Paper Presentation

In 2011, the state of Vermont experienced flooding in the Lake Champlain Basin in the spring, and also from Tropical Storm Irene in late summer.  In the wake of these events, the Vermont State Legislature passed Act 16 in 2013.  The Act specified municipal-level actions to “encourage flood resilient communities” (43 V.S.A. § 4302(c)(14)).  In 2013, the Lake Champlain Basin Program issued a report on flood resilience in the Lake Champlain Basin and the Upper Richelieu River.  It included policy and management recommendations to promote flood resilience (http://www.lcbp.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/FloodReport2013_en.pdf accessed 1/12/2018). 

The definition of resilience provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change includes two key dimensions: recovery from hazardous events and capacity for transformation (https://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/syr/AR5_SYR_FINAL_Glossary.pdf accessed 1/12/2018).  We conducted research to ask how the concept of flood resilience is made operational through municipal planning and management in Vermont with attention to these two dimensions.

 We gathered data about municipal actions from the Vermont Emergency Relief and Assistance Fund (ERAF) database.  Using an index calculated from ERAF compliance measures, we assess whether ERAF scores correlate with various factors including impacts of Tropical Storm Irene, and town size and resources.  We also consider the roles of regional planning commissions and the State of Vermont in supporting municipal level actions to increase flood resilience.  To do so, we conducted a qualitative assessment of data from regional planning commission websites and informational interviews with regional and state-level authorities.

 Our research provides the basis for a conceptual model to understand how resilience may be made operational in other settings. We conclude with reflections on the challenges of implementing measures for resilience across scales of governance.