In the 21st century, the whole planet, and especially coastal communities such as Martha's Vineyard, will be impacted by climate change, with accelerated sea-level rise, heavier rain storms and stormwater runoff, short-term drought and wildfire risk, and a myriad of habitat changes. The MVC recognizes that responding to these changes will require bold action in the coming years. As a starting point for a more focused repsonse to climate change, the MVC adopted a Climate Crisis Resolution in December 2019, agreeing to further consider climate impacts in its decision-making process, and to draft both mitigation and adaptation master plans for the Island.

Climate Action Task Force

The MVC Climate Action Task Force (CATF), made up of Commissioners and staff, along with Island leaders and professionals, is working to develop an Island-wide Climate Resilience Plan with strategies for adapting to climate change impacts in the coming years. The Task Force is also working to develop a master plan for energy, with a goal of eliminating greenhouse gas emissions on the Island by 2040. 

The Task Force meets on the first and third Fridays at 9:30 a.m. on Zoom.

Check out our 2020 CATF Annual Report

Adaptation Context Booklets (2020)

Aquinnah           

Chilmark            

Edgartown            

Oak Bluffs            

Tisbury           

West Tisbury

CATF Energy Working Papers (2020)

Electricity Sector

Transportation

Buildings and HVAC

Energy Efficiency

CATF Meeting Minutes

November 15, 2019 Minutes

December 6, 2019 Minutes

January 3, 2020 Minutes

January 17, 2020 Minutes

February 7, 2020 Minutes

February 21, 2020 Minutes (with Eversource)

March 6, 2020 Minutes

April 17, 2020 Minutes

May 15, 2020 Minutes

June 19, 2020 Minutes

July 3, 2020 Minutes

July 17, 2020 Minutes

August 3, 2020 Minutes (with Eversource)

August 7, 2020 Minutes

September 4, 2020 Minutes

September 18, 2020 Minutes (Eversource responses to CATF questions available here.)

October 2, 2020 Minutes

October 16, 2020 Minutes

November 6, 2020 Minutes

November 20, 2020 Minutes

December 4,2020 Minutes

December 18, 2020 Minutes

January 8, 2021 CATF-CRC joint Minutes

January 15, 2021 Minutes

February 19 2021 Minutes

MVC Climate Resilience Committee listening sessions

Conservation commission agents and commissioners (Feb. 20, 2020)

Harbormasters (March 4, 2020)

Planning board administrators and members I (April 30, 2020)

Building inspectors (May 27, 2020)

Planning board administrators and members II (June 24, 2020)

Realtors (preliminary) (September 2, 2020)

CRC meeting with All-Island Planning Board (September 2, 2020)

Town climate committees (September 9, 2020)

Emergency managers (September 15, 2020)

Town Administrators (September 16, 2020)

National Flood Insurance Program Coordinator, Joy Duperault (November 17, 2020)

Aging Residents (coordinated by Healthy Aging MV) November 30 & December 1 2020

MV Chamber of Commerce January 6, 2021

Oak Bluffs Association February 10, 2021

Key Planning Documents

• Hazard Mitigation Plan for Dukes County  The 2015 update of the Island’s Hazard Mitigation Plan for Dukes County was completed by MVC staff working closely with various town staff and other concerned groups and individuals. This plan was updated in May 2020 (draft under review).

The 2015 update remains the offcial approved HMP plan for the 7 Dukes County towns.  The draft update for 2020 has been submitted to MEMA for review and appears here. For comments or questions, please consult Adam Turner (turner@mvcommission.org).  Here is the May 4, 2020 draft update.

For each town's HMP maps, click below:

• Aquinnah Maps

• Chilmark Maps

• Edgartown Maps

• Gosnold Maps

• Oak Bluffs Maps

• Tisbury Maps

• West Tisbury Maps

• MVP: The towns of Aquinnah, Chilmark, West Tisbury, Gosnold, Edgartown, Oak Bluffs, and Tisbury have completed their Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Summary of Findings reports. These reports summarize the outcomes from the Community Resilience Building Workshops that occured between 2018 and 2020.

How to Read Flood and Storm Maps

Flood and Storm maps may be confusing.  There are storm surge maps of inundation from the dangerous surge of rising hurricane waters. There are flood maps for a nor'easter type of storm.  FEMA produces the flood maps to determine rates for its federally-subsidized flood insurance policies. Towns (except Chilmark) use the maps in floodplain regulations to keep the subsidies available.

Here is a handy 2-sided guide to reading each type of map.

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• Hurricane Surge Inundation Maps
• Flood Zone Maps - Effective

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• Visualizing Sea-Level Rise (video):  In order to illustrate the impacts of sea level rise, the MVC prepared a series of maps showing what the impact might be on the Island, and visual simulations showing what this could look like in a number of critical locations. These illustrations use an estimate of 1.5 feet by 2050 and 5.0 feet by 2100, representing a plausible sea-level rise scenario, corresponding roughly to Rahmstorf’s moderate-emissions scenario that assumes no significant decrease in the global production of greenhouse gases, along with at least 4.4” per century added to account for land subsidence.

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• The Drought and Wildfire Hazards Assessment and Mitigation includes vulnerability assessments by town, including maps of the areas at greatest risk as well as tables of vulnerable persons and property, both for existing and potential future buildings.  

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• VCS Climate Change Resources: The Vineyard Conservation Society’s website includes links to a number of reports about climate change and Martha's Vineyard including: Emissions Scenarios and Global Climate Change, Sea Level Rise, and Human Health Impacts.

• Worldwide and Local Climate Change: gives general background about climate change and explains why we are focusing on climate change adaptation.
• Sea-Level Rise:  looks at projections for sea-level rise on Martha's Vineyard, what the impacts could be on critical infrastructure, roads, and wetlands, and what we can do about this.
• Rainfall and Stormwater: looks at the impacts of projected increases in rainfall and the challenges this presents for stormwater management.
• Drought and Wildfire: looks at vulnerability to drought and wildfire and potential mitigation measures.
• Habitat Change: looks at some of the potential impacts of climate change on local habitats such as saltmarshes.