Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is highly vulnerable to impacts from hurricanes and tropical storms, which are a common occurrence in the region. Climate change is likely to increase the intensity of these storms, which may exacerbate current problems of flooding and erosion. 

During these events, the city can experience flooded neighborhoods, contaminated water supplies, collapsed bridges, and disrupted power generation, among other impacts. This consequently can impact the livelihoods of populations who rely on local infrastructure services.

Activities and Outcomes
To address these challenges, the Municipality of Santo Domingo worked with CRIS to increase the capacity of city staff and partners, integrate climate change considerations into municipal decision-making, and apply lessons learned from peer learning opportunities with other cities. 
Specifically, this partnership has yielded the following accomplishments:
  • The city established a well-coordinated and effective interagency Working Group to integrate climate-resilient decisions across agencies.
  • The city improved its climate change data collection and analysis by making databases and information more accessible to planners and analyzing historical weather trends in areas where proposed projects are located. 
  • The city developed an asset inventory of infrastructure services in its third ward and developed a plan for community outreach activities.
  • City officials applied an approach for understanding the impacts of climate change on existing and planned infrastructure and have identified priority adaptation options for investments in wastewater infrastructure. 

Resources
CRIS worked with city officials, community members, and other partners to develop the following resources:
  • Sensitivity Matrix of Climate Change Impacts on Wastewater Treatment Infrastructure
  • Climate Vulnerability and Adaptation Training Materials
  • CRIS Draft Action Plan: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic