Impacts Projected to Occur By 2050 

DEVELOPED COAST 

• PROPERTY DAMAGE A 10-year storm in Gosnold may flood up to 81 structures (24%), while a 100-year storm may flood up to 100 (29%) [CIT. 3]. 

• ROAD FLOODING About 9 miles of roadway (11%) could flood in a 10-year storm, and 12 miles (15%) in a 100-year storm [CIT. 3], including a water supply control route. On Naushon, critical access between Upper Wharf and downtown is vulnerable to rainstorm washout. 

• HARBOR AND WATERFRONT DAMAGE The main channel to Cuttyhunk is vulnerable to overwash. Disruption of navigation and water transport is among the most serious concerns. Sea level rise and storms threaten the entrance channel to Cuttyhunk and the waterfront infrastructure of both Cuttyhunk and Naushon. Copicut Neck and Church’s Beach are vulnerable to storms, along with the increasingly overwashed causeway between Naushon and Nonamesset.

NATURAL COAST

• EROSION Sections of the largely rocky or moraine coast have experienced relatively little erosion, though one portion of Barges beach on Cuttyhunk has seen up to 300 feet of erosion since the 1800s [CIT. 5]. 

• HABITAT CHANGES About 2 of 40 acres (5%) of estuarine beach/tidal flats could be lost to open water [CIT. 2]. 

Gosnold, once a part of Chilmark, has been an independent town since 1863 and is part of Duke’s County. The Town is made up of the Elizabeth Islands: Nonamesset, Uncatena, Weepecket, Gull, Naushon, Pasque, Nashawena, Penikese and Cuttyhunk, with the Town’s government based on Cuttyhunk.