Meeting summary for the June 2022 CALM Network held virtually on June 22, 2022.
June 2022 CALM Network Meeting Summary
The Collaborative Action for Lake Michigan (CALM) Coastal Resilience network meeting was held virtually on June 22, 2022. CALM is a network for communities along Wisconsin’s entire Lake Michigan coastline working to increase collaboration, support development of local policies and plans, and coordinate the regional prioritization of hazard needs.
This was the second meeting of the CALM network focused on discussing how connecting planning, zoning, and on-the-ground actions can enhance coastal resilience.
The event was attended by 40 stakeholders from state and federal agencies, local municipalities, academic institutions, consulting and engineering firms, sewerage districts, non-profit organizations, regional planning commissions, as well as other organizations and partnerships working on coastal resilience in Wisconsin.
A recording of this meeting is available below along with a summary of the meeting’s speakers and topics.
If you do not already receive the monthly Coastal Resilience Newsletter, you can sign up online. The newsletter highlights new or relevant tools and resources, case studies, events, funding sources, and opportunities to collaborate with others in the CALM network.
Additionally, continue to check the Wisconsin Coastal Resilience website to find tools and resources, water level updates, funding opportunities, case studies, profiles of agencies and organizations working on coastal resilience in Wisconsin, and more! We will regularly develop and add content to the website.
Recording
PDF Versions of Presenter’s Slides
David Hart – Assessing Coastal Hazards in Wisconsin Through Planning
Aaron Owens – Hazard Mitigation Planning & Ozaukee County Hazard Mitigation Plan Update
Julie Kinzelman – Samuel Myers Park Restoration Project
Adam Bechle – Resources on Coastal Resilience Practices
Robyn Fennig – Mitigation’s Role in Resilience: Opportunities in FEMA Grants
Summary
The meeting featured presentations discussing how connecting planning, zoning, and on-the-ground actions can enhance coastal resilience. Throughout the meeting, speakers shared a variety of planning, decision-support, and funding resources related to this theme. Speakers and topics included:
Assessing Coastal Hazards in Wisconsin Through Planning
David Hart, Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute
Coastal Plan Review Update – 2021
David discussed how comprehensive and hazard mitigation plans have a role in guiding how communities address natural hazards. He shared the findings and trends of a 2021 coastal plan inventory which includes a review of how comprehensive and hazard mitigation plans in Wisconsin coastal communities address coastal hazards and how the plans have changed over time. He also featured examples of plans from communities that led the region in incorporating and analyzing coastal hazards in their comprehensive or hazard mitigation planning. Additionally, David shared Wisconsin Sea Grant’s interactive Wisconsin Coastal Communities Overview Map which provides plans and ordinance information for the 15 counties, 22 cities, 17 villages and 51 towns that border Lake Michigan and Lake Superior.
Hazard Mitigation Planning & Ozaukee County Hazard Mitigation Plan Update (2020)
Aaron Owens, Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission
Ozaukee County Hazard Mitigation Plan (2020)
Aaron presented about about how coastal hazards were incorporated into Ozaukee County’s 2020 hazard mitigation plan update. Throughout the presentation, Aaron provided background on what hazard mitigation planning is, why communities mitigate, and the history of the Ozaukee County hazard mitigation effort; the assessment of Lake Michigan coastal hazards in Ozaukee County and the sources of information that were used; the hazard mitigation plan goals and objectives and their relationship to other plans in the counties; as well as some of the priority hazard mitigation measures identified in the hazard mitigation plan update.
Samuel Myers Park Restoration Project
Julie Kinzelman, City of Racine Department of Public Health (retired)
Great Lakes Beach Resiliency Guide
Julie shared a recorded presentation about how the Samuel Myers Park restoration project in Racine, Wisconsin employed nature-based solutions to support ecosystem services and reduce coastal vulnerability. This on-the-ground project is a case study for leveraging multiple funding sources as well as using an adaptive management approach to ultimately improve nearshore water quality and increase coastal resilience.
Resources on Coastal Resilience Practices
Adam Bechle, Wisconsin Sea Grant
Wisconsin Coastal Resilience Website
Adam described the resources on coastal resilience practices that came out of the Southeastern Wisconsin Coastal Resilience Project. Specifically, Adam highlighted resources that could guide projects like the Samuel Myers Park Restoration project. Three guidances were shared including the Great Lakes Beach Resiliency Guide which is a blueprint for planning, building, and maintaining coastal beaches; Nature-Based Shoreline Options for the Great Lakes Coast which overviews and compares nature-based options for high energy, Great Lakes environments; and A Property Owners Guide to Protecting Your Bluff which helps users identify obvious signs of bluff erosion and think through potential practices that could enhance bluff stability.
Mitigation’s Role in Resilience: Opportunities in FEMA Grants
Robyn Fennig, Wisconsin Emergency Management
Wisconsin Emergency Management Website
Robyn provided an overview of how Wisconsin Emergency Management (WEM) supports hazard mitigation in Wisconsin. WEM administers four FEMA hazard mitigation assistance grants – Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, Flood Mitigation Assistance, Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC), and Pre-Disaster Mitigation. Robyn also discussed how the 2021 State Hazard Mitigation Plan incorporated a robust section about climate change including how it impacts natural hazards, as well as how WEM is working to incorporate mitigation into other planning efforts that Wisconsin’s emergency management community is engaged in.
Stakeholder Input
One component of the meeting was a three-question poll that aimed to learn (1) what CALM members want to connect with each other about, (2) how they would prefer to connect with each other, and (3) what field trip or workshop topics would they be interested in for the fall meeting. Attendees at the June network meeting had the opportunity to respond to these multiple-choice questions. These responses will be used to make sure communications about CALM continue to be useful and to inform planning efforts for future meetings.
Below are the answers that received the most votes for each question:
Question 1: What do you want to connect with other members of CALM about?
- Updates about ongoing projects in the Lake Michigan region
- Tools and resources that support resilience work
- Collaboration opportunities with other organizations and communities
Question 2: Which of the following methods would you use to connect with other members?
- Email announcements through the CALM Stakeholder Directory
- Webpage on the Wisconsin Coastal Resilience Website
- Presentations at CALM Network Meetings
Question 3: What field trip or workshop topics would you be interested in?
- Lake Michigan coastline site visits
- Coastal Hazards Self-Assessment workshop
- Community ordinance audit and review workshop
- Grant writing workshop
The next CALM event is expected to be held in September 2022.
For questions or comments about CALM, please contact Lydia Salus, Project Coordinator.
(608) 266-3687 | lydia.salus@wisconsin.gov
