Climate Impact Preparedness, Adaptation, and Resilience

Overview

Impacts from climate change affect local governments in Washington state in numerous ways and pose risks to people, buildings, and infrastructure. From more intense wildfires to hotter summers, communities need to be ready to respond to these impacts. This area of climate action is generally referred to as climate resilience, which is the capacity of communities to prepare for, recover from, and adapt to these impacts.

Local governments planning under the state’s Growth Management Act (GMA) must add a climate element to their comprehensive plans in a timeframe based on the periodic update schedule. A resilience sub-element is mandatory for all fully planning counties and cities under the GMA and is encouraged for all other counties. The Climate Element Planning Guidance from the Washington State Department of Commerce (Commerce) includes a resilience sub-element section (see 3.2: Resilience Guidance) that encourages the use of climate modeling to identify and prepare for natural hazards exacerbated by climate change, including floods, droughts, wildfires, and other impacts. Also see Commerce’s Climate Policy Explorer, which includes model climate measures and planning resources.

Vulnerability/Risk Assessments

The first step in planning for climate impacts is to identify risks related to hazards. Often, these assessments are part of local hazard mitigation plans (HMP) that are required for federal mitigation grant assistance. Such plans and assessments offer local governments the opportunity to look beyond traditional hazard risks or to consider how climate change may exacerbate existing risks.

Below are examples of assessments and HMPs:

•  Clark County Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan (2023) – Discusses risk assessment methodology; detailed sections include drought, floods, landslides, severe weather, and wildfires. It identifies critical facilities, high risk areas, and loss estimates and includes planning area risk ranking for potential damage to people, property, and the economy. The mitigation section includes recommended actions to manipulate a hazard, reduce exposure and vulnerability, and increase capability—at the public (individual), private (business), and government level actions.
• Everett Hazard Inventory and Vulnerability Analysis (2018) – Recognizes the increased risk and frequency of known hazards, such as landslides and flooding, but also identifies secondary hazards from climate change, such as heat waves and greater ranges of invasive species and diseases; includes neighborhood-level risk assessments.
• King County Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan (2025-30) – Includes risk assessments for flood, severe weather, sea level rise, and wildfire; each section includes a description of vulnerability characteristics and assignment of priority vulnerabilities and impact areas; specific and detailed hazard mitigation strategies center the county’s determinants of equity and crosswalks with its strategic climate action plan.
• Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment (2022) – Establishes a baseline of how the natural, built, and cultural elements are threatened by climate change to help the tribe plan to protect its guaranteed treaty rights.
• Spokane County Hazard Mitigation Plan (2020) – Covers drought, flood and dam failure, landslides, severe weather, and wildfires. The HMP analyzes the impact of the hazard on humans, property, critical facilities, the economy, and the environment. Each section has a consequence analysis that assigns a level of impact to different resources. The HMP ranks the hazards, assigns a priority risk index for the governmental agencies within the county, and concludes with specific mitigation initiatives that are both county wide and specific.

Adaptation and Resilience Strategies

Once vulnerability and risk assessments are completed, the hard work of identifying implementation strategies to respond to those risks begins. Below are examples of efforts to adapt to the increased risks and build resilience to minimize damage.

Plans and Studies

• Bremerton Shoreline Master Program (2021) – One of the main goals of this program is to identify and monitor the potential effects of climate change and prepare for and adapt to sea level rise in the following priority order: avoid, retreat, protect, and accommodate. This includes creating a climate change strategic plan that includes the impacts of sea level rise on the shoreline and other affected property, studying changes to public and private shorelines, and considering sea level rise impacts during land use planning processes. This document also contains chapters dedicated to shoreline use regulations and shoreline modifications.
• Jefferson County Shoreline Master Plan (Periodic Review, 2021) – Includes additional considerations of climate change and adaptation measures that align with the county's comprehensive plan; encourages development to address the potential adverse effects of climate change and sea level rise, prioritizing retreat measures for new development or infrastructure investments, and allowing for planned relocations or realignments of existing development and infrastructure. Measures should accommodate shoreline uses and activities that are saltwater and flood tolerant, as well as consider the potential effects of climate change when siting capital facilities.
• North Olympic Development Council Climate Action Toolkit – Offers north Olympic communities climate resiliency resources, such as recommended actions, decision-making tools, and sample codes for topics such as transportation, energy, and water supply; Also see the climate integration checklist and the agency’s climate adaptation project report (2022).
• Olympia Sea Level Rise – Developed in partnership with the Port of Olympia and the LOTT Clean Water Alliance, the response plan (2019) begins with a sea-level-rise-specific vulnerability and risk assessment and describes these considerations for planning for adaptation: physical and operational strategies, governance and informational strategies, cost of adaptation, and implementation. For physical and operational strategies, a menu of selected strategies is described, including temporary flood protection, living with water, and permanent flood protection. Menu selections are then assigned to public assets within the downtown area.
• Port Angeles Climate Resiliency Plan (2022) – Created to support and build upon existing sustainability programs with the goal of it being adopted as part of the city’s comprehensive plan amendment for 2023.
• Puyallup Tribe Resiliency of the spuyaləpabš Story Map (2025) – Describes how climate change is impacting the tribe, how it plans to mitigate and adapt to climate impacts on tribal land, and how they are engaging tribal members in this effort.
• Tacoma Climate Adaptation Strategy (2021) – Builds on the 2016 climate change resiliency study to identify ways the city can meet the challenge of climate impacts, with a specific focus on equitable resiliency planning.

Preparing for Extreme Weather Events

• Everett Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (2020) – Follows up the city’s 2018 hazard inventory and vulnerability assessment with a plan to address the concerns noted in the analysis, such as flooding and extreme heat.
• Gonzaga University Spokane Urban Heat Maps – Shows differences in heat impacts across the city, with additional layers for poverty levels and age difference.
• Jefferson County Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (2018) – Annex B addresses hazard-specific procedures for landslides, flooding, severe weather, and wildfires. The severe weather section offers an overview of the impacts and effects of strong winds, a hazard identification and vulnerability assessment, and an implementation strategy, which includes the National Weather Service's criteria for severe weather, a threat analysis, and recommended response activities and post-incident recovery.
• King County Extreme Heat Mitigation Strategy (2024) – Documents the uneven impacts of extreme heat across the region and includes mitigation strategies such as increasing the tree canopy in highly impacted blocks and updating land-use and urban planning policies to prioritize greenspace and other cooling approaches.
• Quinault Indian Nation: Taholah Village Relocation Master Plan (2020) – Part of a larger report, this plan to relocate a portion of the Lower Village of Taholah to a higher elevation was developed with significant community input. The sustainable planning strategies are transferable to other local communities considering similar questions of planning for coastal retreat and relocation.
• San Juan County Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (2019)  – Includes incident checklists for severe storms, wildfires, floods, and drought. The checklist used in the pre-incident phase is an effective approach to preparedness and potential resiliency in the future.

Addressing Wildfire and Wildfire Smoke

While fire is a natural part of forest and grassland health, a warming climate is leading to drier conditions, which in turn increases the risk of uncontrolled wildfire. The greatest risk to human life and property occurs in the wildland urban interface (WUI).

One way that local governments can prepare for this risk is by adopting appropriate portions of the International Wildland Urban Interface Code (IWUIC) as part of their local building codes. In 2024, the Washington State Legislature directed the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to complete a statewide wildfire hazard map and a base level wildfire risk map for each county and specify which portions of the IWUIC may be adopted (see RCW 19.27.560 and RCW 43.30.580). 

DNR also offers guidance on developing community wildfire protection plans (CWPP), which encourages local governments to work with external partners to develop community-wide plans. In the sample plans below, these communities have looked at steps that can be taken to assess wildfire risk and to prepare and respond to wildfires (including protection from smoke). See DNR’s Community Wildfire Protection Plans webpage for more information on existing and archived CWPPs across the state. 

• King County
  • Wildfire Risk Reduction Strategy (2022) – Includes information about coordinating wildfire protection with a variety of agencies and organizations, including federal, state, and tribal partners.
  • Wildfire Smoke Response (2024) – Describes actions the county health department may take before and during a wildfire smoke event to protect community health and limit health disparities. 
• Methow Valley Climate Action Plan (2021) – Goal 3: Health & Safety addresses risks from wildfire and identifies steps to becoming a “smoke-ready” community, including adopting Firewise building and landscape standards, creating safe public indoor spaces (such as cooling and clean air centers), and establishing a resilient supply chain for food, medicine, energy, and other essentials. It also recognizes the need to build social resiliency by supporting mental health during and after smoke and fire events.
• Okanogan County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (2024) – Assesses local hazards and identifies strategic investments to mitigate wildfire risk and encourage preparedness.
• Pend Oreille County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (2025) – A chapter of the county's 2025 multi-jurisdiction hazard mitigation plan, the CWPP povides a county-wide preparedness strategy while allowing individual communities and local organizations (such as fire services) to customize their response to local conditions.
• Snohomish County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (2025) – Created in partnership with county-based fire districts, land management agencies, tribal nations, property owners, and conservation organizations.

Resolutions Addressing Resiliency

Below are sample resolutions from local cities and counties that address adaptation and resiliency:

• Bainbridge Island Resolution No. 2020-05 (2020) – Declares the existence of a climate emergency and sets the broad goal of adapting to climate change, such as through a Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Certification, or similar process, to ensure consistency with the city’s adopted climate goals and policies.
• Issaquah Resolution No. 2020-04 (2020) – Declares support for the King County-Cities Climate Collaboration joint letter of commitment. In the collaboration letter, section X supports climate preparedness and aims to increase community resilience, and section V pushes the need for a more resilient energy system.
• San Juan County Resolution No. 20-2020 (2020) – A resolution to respond and adapt to climate change. Specifically, the county states goals to improve long-term resiliency of public infrastructure investments, and to promote service, supplies, and green-based jobs that support a climate resilient Island lifestyle.
• White Salmon Resolution 2021-03-517 (2021) – Declares a global climate crisis and commits to developing adaptation and resiliency strategies in preparation for intensifying impacts such as wildfires, drought, reduced water availability, and stormwater runoff.

Recommended Resources

• American Planning Association
  • Hazard Mitigation Policy Guide (2020) – Focuses on potential policy outcomes as divided into interagency, regional, and local planning capacity and cooperation; interrelationships between plans, development codes, and ordinances; resiliency standards; incentives; stakeholder involvement and engagement; and specific hazard types.
  • Planning for Infrastructure Resilience (2019) – Provides a deep dive and step-by-step approach to each aspect of planning for infrastructure resilience, including include vulnerability assessments, planning tools, standards, guidelines and regulations for resilient infrastructure development, and infrastructure finance.
• Climate Impacts Group, University of Washington 
  • Climate Trends Tool – Allows users to visualize monthly, seasonal, or annual trends in maximum, average or minimum temperature, total precipitation and first of the month snow water equivalent for stations across the Pacific Northwest.
  • Sea Level Rise Projection Tools – Presents two ways of viewing sea level rise. Visualization 1 allows the user to select a location and view various likelihoods for how much sea level rise could occur at different points in time. Visualization 2 allows the user to select a location and a certain amount of sea level rise and explore the likelihood that the selected amount of sea level rise will occur at a given point in time.
• Georgetown Climate Center
  • Adaptation Clearinghouse – Offers adaptation-related resources that can be filtered by jurisdictional focus, regions affected, sector, and states impacted. In addition to general resources, the clearinghouse is a great place to find relevant funding sources.
  • Managed Retreat Toolkit – Provides a comprehensive approach to managing the complexities of managed retreats; includes a section on the legal framework, planning tools, infrastructure, acquisition tools, regulatory tools, market-based tools, and cross-cutting policy considerations.
• MRSC
  • Emergency Management - Table of Contents
  • Shoreline Management Act
  • Water Resources and Water Quality
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
  • Coastal Adaptation Planning Guide: 5 Steps for Beginners (2023)
  • Digital Coast – Provides a variety of tools (Sea Level Rise Viewer, lidar and elevation data, risk communication, etc.) and data to support management strategies and long-term planning for coastal communities.
• National Weather Service Heat Risk Map – Offers an interactive map that displays detailed heat risk information for communities across the United States, ranked from low to high risk.
• Oregon Climate Change Research Institute Tribal Climate Adaptation Guidebook (2018) – Provides a five-step climate adaptation process with an emphasis on recognizing tribal governments and cultures.
• Puget Sound Climate Preparedness Collaborative – Composed of more than 30 local and county governments, tribes, regional agencies, and other organizations in the Puget Sound basin.
• U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit – Contains a five-step resilience planning process and provides guidance, supplemental case studies, tools, and reports for each of the steps; helpful videos for each step guide individuals through the process. 
• Washington Coastal Hazards Resilience Network – Includes coastal hazard and climate change practitioners from both the private and public sectors; provides a list of guides and resources specific to the Washington coast, such as list of resources specifically focused on resiliency and adaptation.
  • Coastal Hazards Rist Reduction Project Mapper – Displays a collection of coastal hazard resilience case studies and is designed to assist communities and local governments in developing practical approaches to risk reduction.
• Washington State Department of Commerce Energy Resilience Technical Assistance Program – Provides technical assistance to communities as they explore improving resilience with energy system solutions.