Climate change is already evident in the Hudson Valley — and is predicted to accelerate in the coming years. There is no point trying to sugar-coat it. Most climate scientists expect climate in the Hudson Valley to change dramatically over the course of the coming century. The Rising Waters project aims to strengthen the preparedness and adaptive capacity of the Hudson River Estuary Watershed (HREW) to meet the impacts of future climate change.

To help people think about the expected local impacts of climate change — and how the Hudson Valley might prepare for them, the Rising Waters project used scenario planning methodologies, first developed at Royal Dutch Shell. Creating scenarios educates participants on important aspects of complicated problems and helps to build a shared conceptual framework for dialogue leading to potential solutions. Scenarios build adaptive capacity because they build shared group understanding.