Risks, Impacts, & Strategies for Coastal Communities (RISCC)

Coastal communities are affected by multiple environmental hazards, such as rain and rising sea levels, that damage infrastructure and affect livelihoods. Without additional adaptation efforts, these hazards are expected to increase the risks of flooding and salinization (salt water intrusion).

About the Project

The RISCC Project integrates the social, economic, natural science, and engineering fields to research strategies that reduce long-term threats to coastal communities.

The goals of the project are to:

• Bring together researchers and community partners from three of the lowest-lying states in the country: Delaware, Rhode Island, and South Carolina.
• Advance the scientific knowledge on how coastal communities experience and effectively adapt to flooding and salinization in agricultural and residential areas.
• Develop decision support tools to advance adaptation capacity.
• Create a documentary film and educational materials for partner communities.

With guidance from our Community Advisory Board, the project team are ensuring that the findings and products (such as a short film, educational materials, and online resources) align with and meet community interests.

Communities Involved

The research team is collaborating with Edisto Island (South Carolina), Warren (Rhode Island), and Little Creek and Bay Beach communities (Delaware) to better understand current and future flooding and climate concerns. All three of these states are among the lowest lying states across the United States and therefore are vulnerable to flooding, salinization, and storm impacts.

Edisto—Let Us Know Where it Floods

Have you noticed any flooding or flood-impacts on septic systems on Edisto Beach or Edisto Island? Reports of flooding can ensure our work reflects challenges that you and the Edisto community are facing. Please submit any information and photos.

South Carolina Project Team

This work is made possible by the National Science Foundation EPSCoR Grant Award: Collaborative Research: RII FEC: Risks, Impacts, & Strategies for Coastal Communities: Advancing Convergent Science to Support Climate Change Adaptation & Resilience, Award #s: 2418394, 2418395, 2418396.