Belfast is thinking about its vulnerability to sea level rise

Belfast officials are looking to identify the sections of the city waterfront most at risk of future damage from sea level rise and worsening floods related to climate change.

On Tuesday night, the City Council will consider spending $50,000 in state funding on a study of vulnerabilities along the waterfront, including areas such as the footbridge, the harbor walk, the wastewater treatment plant, the city landing, Heritage Park and the boathouse.

The study comes after Belfast was one of many communities along Maine's coast that suffered devastating damage in the back-to-back storms in January. The first of those two storms did roughly $575,000 in damage to Belfast city property, with the costs to repair the planked harbor walk accounting for almost half of that, according to estimates the city reported in February during the process of seeking federal disaster relief.

If the council approves it Tuesday, the study would be done by Portland-based GEI Consultants, Inc. with funding provided through the state's Community Resilience Partnership program.

In addition to assessing the risk of climate change-related damage, the report would identify strategies for reducing those risks and protecting local infrastructure. It would start immediately and be completed by next June.