In 2015 and 2016, DVRPC helped six Burlington County municipalities identify how climate change will exacerbate existing threats and create new vulnerabilities. Burlington County communities that are located along the Delaware River or crossed by tidal creeks are currently susceptible to coastal flooding from storm surge. Over time, the risk these communities face from coastal flooding will steadily increase as a result of sea level rise and expected increases in the strength and frequency of coastal storms.
The main tool used in this project was the Coastal Vulnerability Assessment, which helps municipalities plan for flooding along their coastlines (or, in DVRPC’s region, tidal waterways). The Coastal Vulnerability Assessment provides information about which assets in a municipality (which include its properties, infrastructure, natural resources, and residents) are the most vulnerable to coastal flooding. This process helps municipalities prioritize which assets to work on first so they can better prepare for and recover from floods.
A Coastal Vulnerability Assessment evaluates the degree to which a community’s assets will be affected by flooding from projected sea level rise and more severe storm events. The assessment also outlines the likely consequences that the temporary or long-term loss of these assets poses to the community. With this assessment, communities will be better informed to make decisions about land use planning, flood mitigation, sea level rise adaptation, infrastructure maintenance, capital improvements, and post-disaster recovery.
DVRPC staff worked with the following six municipalities in Burlington County. The reports for each of the six municipalities can be viewed by clicking on the bar above each municipality. The narrative for each report describes the projected effects of climate change in New Jersey, records the municipality’s historic flooding issues and the actions taken to increase its resilience to floods, and discusses the Coastal Vulnerability Assessment’s methods, findings, and recommendations.
Coastal Vulnerability Assessment
Beverly City
This report analyzes the effects that storm surge and sea level rise along the Delaware River, which forms Beverly City’s northern border, are projected to have on the city’s waterfront properties.
Bordentown Township
This report discusses the effects to Bordentown from sea level rise and storm surge along the Delaware River, Crosswicks Creek, and Blacks Creek. It also highlights the township’s ongoing vulnerabilities to flooding farther inland, where neighborhoods are facing high volumes of stormwater runoff from strong storms.
Burlington City
This report describes two tools -- the Coastal Vulnerability Assessment and the Getting to Resilience Questionnaire -- that DVRPC used in partnership with a project team of municipal staff and residents from Burlington City to increase the city’s flood resilience.
Burlington Township
This report analyzes predicted flooding to Burlington Township from the Delaware River and tidal portions of Assiscunk Creek, Tanners Run, and Marters Ditch.
Delran Township
This report discusses the projected effects of flooding to neighborhoods in Delran along the Delaware River and Rancocas Creek. A focus is the Riverside Park neighborhood at the confluence of these two waterways.
Moorestown Township
This report analyzes the effects of flooding along the Rancocas and Pennsauken creeks, the tidal waterways that respectively form Moorestown’s eastern and western borders.