Charleston’s future depends upon how well the City and surrounding counties invest to adapt and preserve physical assets, underlying economies of medicine, education, tourism and trade, and enhance residents’ quality of life.
Charleston is and will remain a water city, thus the focus of Dutch Dialogues Charleston is on water: surge, tidal, rainfall, stormwater, drainage, surface, groundwater, and combinations thereof. Charleston's long-term survival will, in large part, be determined by how the community manages its flood and sea-level risks.
Given Charleston’s abundant natural and man-made assets, creatively linking spatial planning, integrated water management, infrastructure and development will yield a compelling vision for Charleston’s future with water. To create that vision, Historic Charleston Foundation (HCF) and the City of Charleston Launched Dutch Dialogues Charleston in 2019, a collaborative effort bringing together national and international water experts working alongside Charleston's local teams to create a pathway to resilience while maintaining the city's historic beauty and iconic identity.
In 2024, in a natural progression of the reccommendations of Dutch Dialogue Charleson's Final Report, the City of Charleston debuted the Charleston Water Plan.
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