Review Reports - Communicating Managed Retreat in California

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Dear Editor.

I have finished my review on the proposed paper “Communicating Managed Retreat in California” Water-1126135-peer-review-v1.

Summary of the manuscript:

The main subject of the is the action of “managed retreat” in order to protect communities from SLR. In the proposed paper, the authors goals were to identify cases of community resistance to managed retreat in, cases of community receptiveness, the means of communication of managed retreat and recommendations for effectively communicating ideas in future managed retreat in California. This is a very interesting paper and I recommend to authors to see what other coastal countries do about SLR.

General review:

The proposed paper is very well structured. It begins with an analytical Introduction with the appropriate references, that helps the reader to get into the subject immediately. In Introduction there is an effort to provide previous researches with similar scientific content, that took place in California. Authors describe and set very well the scientific problem and how other researchers have approached. At the end of Introduction, authors clearly state the goals of the research. The methodology is generally very simple, but well explained, so other researches could easily repeat this research methodology. The results are very well stated and in my opinion tables and figures are easily understandable and I think there is no need for changes. The results scientifically explained with the use of the appropriate scientific literature. The quality of the work in Discussion section is very high. Conclusion are appropriate for this paper.

Points for revision:

In my opinion, the proposed paper could be characterized as a high-quality research work, complies with aims of Water.

Nevertheless, I have some points for revision.

Introduction: It is well known that in many cases (coastal countries) the best solution to avoid flood risk from SLR is the “managed retreat”. Further, it is very common phenomenon in coastal communities, to face large and devastating flood events that were the result of the combined action of stream/river overbank flow and sea wave action, during extreme storm events. The storm events triggered the overbank flow near the shoreline and the simultaneous action of big waves. The problem with urban sprawl very closed to the sea and streams and the necessity for “manage retreat” from these areas, has been addressed in previous years from other researches in Mediterranean and other European countries. During intense storm events the SL rises (big waves) and as a result the flood water from stream meets a barrier near the coast line. Especially in area with vey low altitude and lagoons (Faccini et al. 2018, Kastridis and Stathis 2020, Ganguli and Merz 2019). Also in these cases, it is very difficult to persuade residents to leave their properties. In my opinion you should address this in your introduction (in 2-3 lines) using literature from other coastal countries (below you can use the proposed literature).

Discussion: The main problem with the “managed retreat” is the private property. From my experience coastal properties have very high economic value. It is extremely difficult to move the owners of these properties in other places with lower economic values. These owners should be compensated or give them new private property with same value. In the other hand, there is more drastically measures (force to move without compensation, force to move in houses with lower economic value etc.). But in your paper, I didn’t find what you propose about this, very serious problem. In my opinion you should add in the paper your proposals.

Except these points for revision the paper is very qualitative, interesting and novelty.

Faccini, F., Luino, F., Paliaga, G., Sacchini, A., Turconi, L., & de Jong, C. (2018). Role of rainfall intensity and urban sprawl in the 2014 flash flood in Genoa City, Bisagno catchment (Liguria, Italy). Applied Geography, 98, 224–241. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2018.07.022.

Kastridis, A., & Stathis, D. (2020). Evaluation of hydrological and hydraulic models applied in typical Mediterranean Ungauged watersheds using post-flash-flood measurements. Hydrology, 7(1), 12. https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology7010012.

Ganguli, P., Merz, B. Extreme Coastal Water Levels Exacerbate Fluvial Flood Hazards in Northwestern Europe. Sci Rep 9, 13165 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-49822-6.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer 1,

We wish to re-submit our original research article entitled, “Communicating Managed Retreat in California,” for consideration by Water. We submitted the first version of this article on February 10, 2021 and received several insightful comments from the two reviewers. We have revised the manuscript to address these comments, and at the bottom of this letter we outline the specific changes made. All of the changes have been completed in tracked changes.

In our paper, we examined the Local Coastal Program review process in seven California communities at imminent risk of sea-level rise and categorized each case as receptive or resistant to managed retreat. Three prominent themes distinguished the two groups: 1) inclusivity, timing, and consistency of communication, 2) property ownership, and 3) stakeholder reluctance to change. We examined use of terminology and communication strategies and provided recommendations to communicate “managed retreat” more effectively.

We believe this manuscript is appropriate for and would interest readers of Water, and we appreciate your review of our manuscript.

Summary of Major Revisions:

Comment 1: The problem with urban sprawl very closed to the sea and streams and the necessity for “manage retreat” from these areas, has been addressed in previous years from other researches in Mediterranean and other European countries. During intense storm events the SL rises (big waves) and as a result the flood water from stream meets a barrier near the coast line. Especially in area with vey low altitude and lagoons (Faccini et al. 2018, Kastridis and Stathis 2020, Ganguli and Merz 2019). Also in these cases, it is very difficult to persuade residents to leave their properties. In my opinion you should address this in your introduction (in 2-3 lines) using literature from other coastal countries.

Response: We appreciate this reviewer’s suggestion. While our paper focuses on California coastal cities, we appreciate that flood risk and the need for adaptive management plans extend to other countries and to areas affected by fluvial flooding as well as sea-level rise. Therefore we have added the following text to our introduction and cited the paper by Ganguli and Merz (2019):“Managed retreat is a strategy for sustainable development that should be considered in areas throughout the world with low elevations or coastal regions that experience repeated traumatic climatic events, such as sea-level rise and river flooding [15].”

Comment 2: The main problem with the “managed retreat” is the private property. From my experience coastal properties have very high economic value. It is extremely difficult to move the owners of these properties in other places with lower economic values. These owners should be compensated or give them new private property with same value. In the other hand, there is more drastically measures (force to move without compensation, force to move in houses with lower economic value etc.). But in your paper, I didn’t find what you propose about this, very serious problem. In my opinion you should add in the paper your proposals.

Response: Thank you for this comment. In the paper, we address your comment on page 11, “For some homeowners, especially those wishing to pass their home on to their children, buy-outs may seem the only feasible option. However, when the government buys back houses at their pre-hazard prices it has a distorting effect on the market and can incentivize increased risk exposure by offering coastal homeowners a guaranteed safety net [72]. There is not a one size fits all solution for private property owners but the Federal Government may take action to prevent this issue by terminating flood insurance for properties with repeated claims or raising federal flood insurance premiums to reflect the actual costs of coastal flooding [73,74]. Additionally, stakeholders who may be reluctant to managed retreat because of the high economic value of their coastal property should be made aware that property values decline with frequent flooding, and of the large, collective losses that occur with unmanaged retreat [75,76].” Another proposal to solve this problem is mentioned in the section on Imperial Beach on page 7, “While the city and consultants came up with an innovative plan to recoup costs and maximize homeowners’ time in their houses by buying back the homes deemed most at-risk and then renting them back to current homeowners until conditions necessitated removal, these plans were met with large and vocal protests during meetings.”

Managed retreat will require sacrifice, and our paper focuses on communicating managed retreat and not on the financial aspects/mechanisms of the issue. We do acknowledge that this process cannot be simplified and on page 13 we write, “Coastal planning is not a simplistic process; many aspects complicate effective progress including permitting and legal processes, geology, funding sources, insurance programs, distribution of financial risks, and the occurrence of episodic severe erosion events (e.g. El Niño years).” We hope that these additions have addressed your concern.

Best,

The Authors

Reviewer 2 Report

Dear Authors,

Please find attached my Comments and Suggestions for your work.

I wish you good luck!

Kind regards,

The Reviewer

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Dear Reviewer 2,

We believe this manuscript is appropriate for and would interest readers of Water, and we appreciate your review of our manuscript.

Summary of Major Revisions:

Comment 1: Currently, the paper is not in its final form, requiring copy-editing and proofreading in order to fit the standard format.

Response: Thank you for this comment. All of the authors have proofread the paper and you will find all of the copy edits in our tracked changes.

Comment 2: I would kindly suggest to the Authors to introduce in their current work a few more details regarding the implications of sustainability, adaptation, climate change communication and social responsibility, with direct reference to Sustainable Development Goal approach, starting from the idea that their work is addressing sensible sustainability issues.

Response: Thank you for this comment. We agree that the paper should include more information about sustainable development and social responsibility. We added a sentence in the introduction that states, “Managed retreat is a strategy for sustainable development that should be considered in areas throughout the world with low elevations or coastal regions that experience repeated traumatic climatic events, such as sea-level rise and river flooding.” Also, in section 3.3.1, we added the following: “Developing inclusive communication about managed retreat is an important way to achieve sustainable development and reduce climate disaster risks for vulnerable communities and countries”. We cited a paper titled, “Global governance by goal-setting: the novel approach of the UN Sustainable Development Goals” by Biermann et al. (2017). On page 11 we added, “Managed retreat contributes to sustainable development as it considers global solutions for social vulnerability and climate change mitigation, sustainable economic development and corporate and non-corporate social responsibilities”. We also reference sustainable development on page 14, by writing “A central goal throughout the communication process should be to emphasize managed retreat as a sustainable development strategy that 1) protects communities by moving out of a hazard zone, rather than a strategy of surrender, 2) expands public access to ecosystem services, 3) preserves natural resources, and 4) balances long-term costs and benefits associated with repeated rebuilding after catastrophic events such as El Niños and progressive changes such as sea-level rise.” We hope these changes address your concerns.

Best,

The Authors

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Dear Editor.

I have carefully studied the authors' responses on my comments. I believe that the authors manage to answer to my comments with a meaningful way. So, I do not have any other comments or suggestions.

I propose to the authors to add in the Introduction, and the other two references that I have proposed (Faccini et al. 2018, Kastridis and Stathis 2020). Do not forget that this Mediterranean countries have the same climate with California and the same flood problems.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

Thank you for these final comments. I have added in the introduction, "Managed retreat is a strategy for sustainable development that should be considered in areas throughout the world with low elevations or coastal regions that experience repeated traumatic climatic events, such as sea-level rise and river flooding [15]. Urban expansion in these vulnerable areas has escalated the urgent need for action to mitigate risks such as flash floods [16,17]." This section cites Faccini et al. (2018) and Kastridis and Stathis (2020).

I have also added, "Managed retreat contributes to sustainable development as it considers global solutions for social vulnerability and climate change mitigation, sustainable economic development, and corporate and non-corporate social responsibilities. While this study focuses on California, there is potential for this study’s findings to be useful in coastal regions throughout the world such as Mediterranean countries that share California’s climate and flood risk." in the first paragraph of the discussion.

I hope that this addresses all of your comments.

Thanks again,

The Authors

Reviewer 2 Report

Dear Authors,

Thank you!

Kind regards,

The Reviewer

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

Thank you for your response and comments!

Best,

The Authors