SLAWG isn't much of a name, but professional planners across the state agree that there's merit in the work that's going into the Sea Level Adaptation Working Group.

The Maine Association of Planners recognized the ongoing SLAWG study with a Merit Award at its annual meeting in Brunswick on June 17, 2011. On hand to accept the award were Bob Hamblen, Saco City Planner; Jay Chace, Scarborough Town Planner; Ken Buechs, chairman of the Coastal Area Committee, Biddeford; and J.T. Lockman, Planning Director, Southern Maine Regional Planning Commission.

Saco, Biddeford, Old Orchard Beach and Scarborough signed an agreement to collaborate on a Saco Bay-wide study of the effects of rising sea level in 2010. Two representatives of each community sit on the working group, which is staffed by Lockman and by Peter Slovinsky, a coastal geologist with the Maine Geological Survey.

SLAWG's purpose is to estimate regional coastal vulnerabilities to sea level rise and storm events, identify how the four communities choose to address these vulnerabilities, and provide recommendations for solutions. Funded in part by the Maine Coastal Program, the Saco Bay effort is being watched closely across the state and New England as the first example of this type of regional study in Maine.

The group will be focusing on a number of issues, including infrastructure that may be vulnerable to rising sea levels, state and federal beach nourishment and erosion control efforts, floodplain management, local ordinances, stormwater planning programs, and coordination with the Saco Bay Implementation Team and its efforts to devise a solution to the Camp Ellis jetty erosion problem.

"Aside from paying attention to what scientists are telling us is a very real phenomenon (sea level rise), SLAWG is proving to be a great tool for understanding how Saco's neighbors operate, and what their concerns are," said Hamblen.