We're Headed to the Highlands!

Wetlands Watch Strengthens Commitment to Combat Climate Change: Expands Community Support to Blue Ridge Highlands

Photo: National Park Service

Norfolk, Virginia–Widely known for its steadfast commitment to Virginia’s coastal communities, Wetlands Watch is launching an ambitious initiative to protect Blue Ridge Highlands communities from the escalating risks associated with climate change.

For over a decade, Wetlands Watch has worked closely with localities to bolster their flood mitigation efforts on the coast. Sea levels have risen by a foot and a half over the past century, and are predicted to rise by another three feet by 2080, presenting dire challenges to local governments as they seek to mitigate impacts for their communities and increase their resiliency. Wetlands Watch has supported efforts to help coastal communities by providing localities with expert technical guidance, essential on-the-ground training, and insider aid in accessing state and federal funding.

Climate change impacts are not just limited to coastal areas, however. 

The Blue Ridge Highlands, located hundreds of miles inland, are also grappling with climate change impacts. Threats in the highlands don’t come from the sea, however, but from the sky, where increases in precipitation result in more frequent and severe flash flooding.

The Blue Ridge Highlands are particularly vulnerable to flash floods because the mountains have a particular way of wringing moisture out of the air and channeling it down into populated areas. During low pressure events, warm, moist air is drawn up into the highlands where it sheds its moisture in the form of precipitation. The rain then cascades down the mountain sides in bursts, putting public safety, homes, and local infrastructure at risk.

In the area of climate change impacts, Coastal Virginia attracts more media attention, more funding, and more support, yet in recent years, the majority of the presidential disaster declarations for Virginia have occurred outside of the coastal zone. The Mid-Atlantic Regional Integrated Sciences & Assessments division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has documented an 18% increase in the intensity, duration, and frequency of rainfall in the Commonwealth. The impacts of this increased rainfall are exacerbated by the fact that summer droughts tend to harden the soil, rendering it unable to absorb water quickly. This can cause dangerous sheet flow hazards for communities.

Wetlands Watch is proud to expand its work inland and excited to learn more about climate change impacts in the Blue Ridge Highlands.

Operating under a three-year grant from the Virginia Environmental Endowment, Wetlands Watch will provide Blue Ridge Highland communities with the technical assistance, training, funding support, and networking structures to start increasing resilience to the impacts of climate change. The program will begin in January of 2024, and will run until the end of 2026.

For further information, contact Mary-Carson Stiff, Executive Director, Wetlands Watch, at mc.stiff@wetlandswatch.org.