WHOI Waterfront Project Raises Concerns About Community Flood Insurance Rates
Concerns were raised recently regarding the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Iselin facility and dock replacement project—specifically as to how it relates to FEMA and Falmouth’s respective flood zones and how the facility’s construction as designed may impact community flood rates.
The project is called CWATER, which is short for the Complex Waterfront Access to Exploration and Research and consists of three components: a newly designed dock, a new waterfront facility, and a public green space. The project has been before the Conservation Commission since August, but concerns recently raised with the project have to do with portions of the proposed new building being located within the velocity zone. Falmouth observes two velocity zones: one set by FEMA, and a second set by the conservation commission, which is offset 25 feet back from the FEMA line.
At the conservation commission’s December 15 meeting, Jack Vaccaro, a senior consultant at the environmental engineering and consulting company Epsilon Associates, explained that the proposed new building that is the most seaward will be entirely outside of the FEMA velocity zone and only 1,500 square feet will be located within the presumptive Falmouth velocity zone. Currently, the Iselin building has 4,200 square feet of existing development within the Falmouth velocity zone. If the new building is built as designed, that footprint is going to be greatly reduced but is still not quite in alignment with local regulations.
Despite confirmation from Mr. Vaccaro that the project will be moving forward into the design element phase and will meet compliance with FEMA regulations in final plans, concerns regarding the building’s location in the Falmouth velocity zone and how that might affect FEMA’s community rating system remained.
FEMA’s community rating system is a nationwide one that offers residents a discount on flood insurance rates that is determined through a site visit, during which FEMA inspects how well regulations are followed using a point system. Conservation commission administrator Jennifer Lincoln explained that any deviation from Falmouth’s Wetland Regulations 10.38, which determines the 25-foot offset from the FEMA flood line, could result in a reduction in points and therefore decrease the potential discount on flood insurance for all private property owners.
The issue was brought up again on January 10 before the Falmouth Select Board. Ms. Lincoln told the board there would be further deliberation on the project, but one of the sticking points was the proposed building’s partial location in the Falmouth velocity zone.
“The whole project is a vast improvement from what’s down there,” she said.
Ms. Lincoln explained that there is an exhaustive list of criteria that the community must meet to qualify for flood insurance discounts, but that the Falmouth Wetland Regulations are in place to help ensure that happens.
“We have to remember that you can’t write a regulation for everything, and I don’t think when the regulations were written that they envisioned a complex project such as the CWATER project,” Ms. Lincoln said. “So the board has some considerations to make. It’s WHOI’s team that [has to] meet that regulation, and that’s something the commission will need to weigh.”
Select board chairman Douglas C. Brown asked if what was designed was in line with state wetland regulations, which Ms. Lincoln confirmed. He also asked if there is a way of knowing whether Falmouth would be injured, in regard to the rating system, were this project to be approved.
“It’s an unknown,” Ms. Lincoln said. “Again, there’s an exhaustive list of criteria that we’re going to work through with FEMA. I can tell you that regardless of the WHOI CWATER project, we are going to have some troubles—not troubles, but issues we’re going to need to work through from FEMA. But FEMA is willing to work with communities to correct flood plain management practices and issues that they find.”
Some of the criteria FEMA will look at, Ms. Lincoln said, include building records, the condition of the coastline, and observation of the velocity zone.
Board member Samuel H. Patterson made a point to clarify that if Falmouth qualifies for the discount program as a municipality, then that classification means that every private property owner who pays flood insurance would benefit as well through lower premiums. The point of contention, it seemed, was the big “if” of the situation, as in the discount is only applied “if” Falmouth as a whole qualifies for the program.
“At the same time,” Mr. Brown said, “WHOI is a valued partner in the community, and if there’s any way we can give a little more latitude to help them achieve their project, I would certainly like to at the risk of endangering our community rating statistics because we could just be dangling a carrot out there that we might never get anyway.”
Ms. Lincoln said that the average community savings in Massachusetts through the program is about 10 percent. She emphasized that Falmouth’s status in regard to the community rating system is a big unknown and likely will be for some time, until FEMA can complete its review of Falmouth as a municipality.
“I know that WHOI is actively in conversations with FEMA regarding their project, so they have an active, open line of communication with FEMA,” Ms. Lincoln said. “We were supposed to have our review over two years ago but because of COVID that was delayed, and I’m told through the county that hopefully, FEMA will be in the town within the year to start that review project. And it’s a lengthy review.”
Town Manager Julian M. Suso reminded the board that it voted in support of this project many months ago. He said that several board members, himself included, have been meeting as part of the community input and support outreach aspect of the CWATER project.
Leslie-Ann McGee, who oversees the day-to-day management of the project, said that the CWATER project will be before the select board soon for a special permit, and that the conservation commission is just one step on their journey to executing this project.
“Since our founding in 1930, our working waterfront has had several configurations,” Ms. McGee said. “The current incarnation has been in place for 52 years and has served the institution very well. For the last 10 years or so, the pier has approached the end of its design life of 50 years, requiring us to make multimillion-dollar investments every year in repairs to allow us to continue the pursuit of our mission.”
Through various analyses, Ms. McGee said it was determined that the dock must be replaced, and WHOI’s solution was to do so using modern technology that is adaptable to the impacts of climate change. She emphasized WHOI’s dedication to research and education to advance the understanding of the ocean and its interactions with both society and the ecosystem, and said that a working waterfront, active port and research facility are integral to servicing that mission.
“The launchpad and work zone further efforts to help explore and understand the world’s oceans,” she said. “The pier also provides a scientific and testing platform for new technology, such as autonomous underwater robots, aquaculture technologies, and wind energy initiatives, just to name a few. So it is, essentially, not just a port for vessels but it’s actually a scientific platform itself.”
Ms. McGee also emphasized the economic impact that the waterfront has, quoting a study from the University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute as contributing an annual $50 million to the local and regional economy. WHOI is committed to leading by example on all fronts, she said, and strives to deliver an entirely new working waterfront using best practices and meet the goals set forth by federal, state, and local regulations.
“We endeavored to design a new facility in nearly the exact configuration as the current facility and in a manner that plans for projected sea-level rise, increasing frequency and intensity of storms, and also nuisance flooding,” she said. “We are 18 months into our permitting and regulatory process already, which has been very enlightening for us. The regulatory regime is complex, and in some cases does not support resilient solutions or solutions with the least environmental impact, and [that] is something we have to navigate.”
Ms. McGee also mentioned Resilient Woods Hole, an effort launched in partnership with MBL and NOAA in 2020 to ensure that institutional and climate planning needs were coordinated and making active progress. She said that the initiative was recently awarded a Massachusetts Coastal Resiliency Grant to support planning efforts of all stakeholders in Woods Hole Village.
As a result of numerous consultations with FEMA, the Barnstable County Flood Plain coordinator, conservation staff, peer reviewers, and community representatives, Ms. McGee said that WHOI now better understands the impacts all development has on prospective programs that could benefit town property owners.
“We know that at the very basic level, we’re all in this together,” Ms. McGee said. “We are going to rise to this challenge. We’ll continue to work diligently and creatively to deliver a win-win-win for WHOI, the community, and the environment to the best of our ability. So we ask for your patience and trust that we will continue to lead by example on delivering a high-quality redevelopment project that ensures our contributions, not only to the world’s understanding of our oceans but also to the community in which we reside.”