Annapolis Battles Sea-Level Rise, Plans To Overhaul City Dock

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Sea levels are rising, and Annapolis is caught in the line of fire. As a waterfront town, the city is at increased risk for flood damage.

City Dock flooded 65 times in 2019, a press release informed. By 2040, the write-up predicted that the site could flood 350 days each year.

Though Annapolis cannot prevent these floods, it can adapt to them. The city has a $56 million plan to floodproof downtown. Over the next five years, Annapolis hopes to build a new parking garage and renovate City Dock.

"If we are going to take care of our residents and honor our important history as a community, we need to be resilient in the face of climate change," Mayor Gavin Buckley said in the release. "Mitigating the impacts of climate change is expensive."

The blueprints first call for the demolition and reconstruction of Noah Hillman Garage, located at 150 Gorman Street. The city said the property is regularly flooded and needs to be rebuilt.

In the second half of the construction window, attention would turn to City Dock. Annapolis plans to replace the current parking lot with a raised park, The Capital Gazette reported. The city will also install flood gates, water pumps and sea walls around town, The Capital added.

This will be the largest construction project in Annapolis history. Officials noted that Annapolis will likely have to take on "substantial debt" to finance the builds.

Still, the city thinks redevelopment is necessary to protect its low-lying infrastructure and historical properties. The town expects that the threat will only grow worse.

Annapolis estimated that it will have to spend $45 million on four miles of sea walls by 2040 to limit the effects of sea-level rise. That equates to $1,159 per resident.

This construction is only one facet of the city's strategy. Annapolis also filed a lawsuit against dozens of fossil fuel companies on Feb. 22. The suit hopes to hold Exxon, Chevron, BP, Shell, the American Petroleum Institute and more than 20 other gasoline companies accountable for the effects of climate change.

"This lawsuit is all about accountability and determining who should pay the high costs of dealing with climate change," Buckley wrote. "Annapolis residents and businesses pay the price for the damage inflicted on our infrastructure due to increased flooding caused by sea level rise."

To learn more about the suit, read Patch's story. For a full timeline and sketches of the construction, check out The Capital's coverage.

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