KINGSTON — Kingston's waterfront is barreling toward a doomsday scenario, environmental experts fear.
Climate change will cause water levels along the Hudson River to rise 50 inches by 2080, said Sacha Spector of Scenic Hudson. This would dramatically alter the face of the city.
"Rather than Kingston Point (beach) being in the flood zone," Spector said, "Kingston Point is underwater."
The higher water levels wouldn't only put sparsely populated land underwater. They'd also put heavily trafficked areas of the Rondout at risk.
Rising sea levels mean that, by 2100, Kingston will likely experience Superstorm Sandy level floods every other year.
"The old 100-year event is no longer a 100-year event," Spector said. Much of the Rondout commercial district already lies in a 100-year floodplain.
Environmental changes continue to make 100-year storms more frequent and intense.
Storms of such a magnitude are expected to occur roughly once every 65 years by 2080.
"We're getting more rain in big events, which stresses the system," Spector said.
Some 75 city officials, residents and business owners gathered at City Hall Thursday to begin figuring out how to deal with this new reality.
They spent three hours grappling with difficult questions.
Will the city lose access to Kingston Point beach?
Should the shoreline along the Rondout Creek be raised?
Should Kingston's sewage treatment plant — where water levels rose well above 6 feet during Sandy — be fortified or relocated off the Strand?
Clearwater President Allan Shope said a successful strategy looks beyond the current infrastructure and favors actions that would most aid the well-being of future generations.
"The preservation of the status quo is futility," he said.
Trolley museum President Jon McGrew worried that constructing a levee or barrier would destroy the city's interface with the Rondout Creek, which is vital to tourism.
"The solution would clearly be to raise everything while maintaining views of the waterfront," McGrew said. "But how do you do that?"
Jason Winner said identifying less vital waterfront properties — such as brownfields, former industrial sites and parks — can help focus a strategy on the most crucial assets.
"Are there resources that can be moved?" Winner asked.
A task force will present recommendations in spring 2013.