provided to The Santiva Chronicle
What impact could sea level rise have on Captiva Island? How can island property owners adapt to the threat of rising tides to protect their homes and properties?
That will be the focus of a community meeting, “Adapting to Sea Level Rise on Captiva,” set for Thursday, March 24, beginning at 7 p.m. at the Captiva Civic Center, 11550 Chapin Lane, Captiva.
Options on bayside adaptation for Captiva will be presented by Cheryl Hapke, Ph.D., with Integral Consulting, who has been working with the Captiva Community Panel’s Sea Level Rise (SLR) Committee since 2019.
Hapke will be joined by Carrie Schuman, Ph.D., Coastal Resilience Manager with the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF), who will review “Guiding Principles and Proposed Milestones” for coastal resilience efforts on both Captiva and Sanibel.
Those wishing to physically attend the meeting in person must sign up (no cost) at Eventbrite (link below), as seating is limited to 75 people due to the Captiva Civic Association’s Covid-19 policy (subject to change prior to the event). Masks or face coverings may be required indoors at all times for anyone over age 6.
The adaptation study followed Hapke’s completion of a baseline SLR vulnerability assessment covering the potential impact of one, two and four feet of SLR. This vulnerability assessment only included SLR, not storms; storm modeling should be addressed in the future.
Based on this vulnerability assessment, the SLR Committee identified five priority areas on Captiva’s bayside, representative of both the potential SLR risk and the various shoreline types generally found on the bayside.
The SLR Committee secured funding to develop conceptual adaptation strategies for two feet of SLR for each of the bayside priority areas, to enable property owners to understand their options to protect their homes and properties from increased inundation, higher tides and storm waves.
Dr. Schuman’s presentation on Guiding Principles will open the meeting, then Dr. Hapke will cover the adaptation options in depth, followed by a Q&A session to finish the evening. The presentation will also be available via Zoom (see below), and will be recorded and posted on the panel website for viewing.
The adaptation study was funded by the following generous supporters:
• Captiva Erosion Prevention District (which also funded Dr. Schuman’s position at SCCF)
• Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation
• Captiva Civic Association
• Jay & Cindy Brown
• Robin & Lisolotte Vince
• Surinder & Edda Sehgal
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