Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Program

MVP Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment 2022

Working with the Woods Hole Group the Town of Fairhaven is developing a Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment for critical Town Infrastructure. The Assessment will have 4 main tasks.

  1. Task 1 - Project Management: MVP requirements; Monthly progress reports
  2. Task 2 - Public Involvement and Community Engagement: Steering Committee (4 Meetings) and 2 Public Meetings
  3. Task 3 - Data Collection and Study Parameters: GIS Data; Asset Inventory; Infrastructure; Natural Resources; Criticality Scoring
  4. Task 4 – Vulnerability Assessment: SLR and Storm Flood Projections; Asset Surveys; Critical Flood Elevations and Risk Assessment

Climate Change Preparedness & Adaptation

Fairhaven is among many towns on the front lines of climate change. With nearly 30 miles of shoreline, our community is particularly vulnerable to sea level rise, increased flooding, and more severe storms. Increasing temperatures, extended heat waves, and changing precipitation patterns will bring additional impacts and challenges to Fairhaven.

In 2019, the Town of Fairhaven received a Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Planning Grant from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs to begin addressing climate change impacts on Fairhaven’s infrastructure, residents, and environment. The completion of this process will result in Fairhaven’s certification as an MVP Community and provide access to additional state funding for climate preparedness and adaptation.

As part of its ongoing MVP planning process, the Town of Fairhaven sought community input on the Summary of Findings resulting from a Community Resilience Building (CRB) Workshop held in January 2020. This participatory, stakeholder-driven workshop included the identification and prioritization of specific community actions for Fairhaven to pursue in reducing risk and building resilience to climate change.

This web-based engagement effort included a summary webinar presentation, a copy of the final report, and an online survey to record comments and feedback.

Watch the webinar

Review the report

Take the survey (closed June 22, 2020, see results in Summary of MVP Listening Session)

The 2019 MVP Planning Grant also funded two additional scope items: Town Policy and Regulatory Review and Targeted Vulnerability & Adaptation Assessments. 

The Town Policy and Regulatory Review resulted in a detailed inventory and evaluation of existing Town bylaws, regulations, and policies through the lens of climate change and its anticipated effects and impacts on Fairhaven. 

The Targeted Vulnerability & Adaptation Assessments built on our 2018 Hazard Mitigation Plan, which identified several categories of community assets determined to be at potentially high risk to climate-related natural hazards. The CRB Workshop prioritized a subset of these community assets for more detailed assessments of their vulnerability and potential adaptation actions. 

Please submit any questions you would like a direct answer to here.

If you have difficulty accessing these materials, please contact Planning & Economic Development, at (508) 979-4023, ext. 8122.