В округе Чарлстон создали сеть для совместной борьбы с наводнениями

Charleston County pushes local governments to work together on flooding CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) — A Charleston County initiative designed to turn resilience planning into action is now connecting local governments across the Lowcountry through a new peer-to-peer collaborative. The effort grew out of a Resilience Accelerator workshop held in February 2026. More than 40 local government practitioners participated, along with nonprofit and academic partners, to discuss how communities could better coordinate their plans, projects and policies. Charleston County Resilience Manager Molly Caggiano says one of the biggest outcomes was recognizing the need for communities to communicate more directly about the work they’re already doing. The peer-to-peer network gives local governments a way to share information about projects and identify where their priorities overlap. That could help communities avoid duplicating work and potentially move projects forward more quickly and efficiently. Using shared risk data Another piece of the effort is Charleston County’s hazard vulnerability database, which provides shared information about hazards and risks across the region. The database can help inform decisions involving risk reduction, infrastructure improvements and future housing or development. Caggiano says having communities work from shared information also encourages them to think beyond individual municipal boundaries. “These are all issues that we can’t address within our own local jurisdiction,” Caggiano said. “We need to have regional solutions for them.” The collaborative is intended to provide a starting point for those regional conversations. What could come next? Caggiano says the network could eventually lead to communities partnering on projects or pursuing funding together when their priorities overlap. For example, if two jurisdictions discover they are working on similar infrastructure or resilience projects, the collaborative could help them determine whether working together makes more sense than pursuing the projects independently. The county says the broader goal is to take localized plans and bring them to a regional level, particularly when dealing with issues such as flooding, congestion, infrastructure and housing. For Charleston County, the February workshop was the starting point. The focus now is on using the network and shared data to turn those plans into coordinated action. Copyright 2026 WCSC. All rights reserved.