Wetlands can be powerhouses for climate adaptation and resilience. This World Wetlands Day, we are highlighting one type of wetland that impacts people the most – coastal urban wetlands. Read More
Growing Returns
Selected tag(s): Coasts
Three ways to take bold action to protect urban coastal wetlands
Posted in Climate Resilience Also tagged climate resilience, Coasts and Watersheds, natural infrastructure, wetlands Comments are closed
A new way of partnering with the Corps leads to innovative wetland mitigation solutions and increased flood resilience.
Today marks the release of the Record of Decision (ROD) from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) on a restoration project known as the River Reintroduction into Maurepas Swamp (or Maurepas Diversion) that will serve as mitigation for the West Shore Lake Pontchartrain hurricane risk reduction levee project (WSLP). Read More
Posted in Climate Resilience Also tagged Coasts and Watersheds, resilience, wetlands Comments are closed
Biden’s roadmap to nature-based solutions could be the key to future resilience planning.
In early December 2022, the Biden-Harris administration announced the release of a Roadmap to Accelerate Nature-Based Solutions to address climate change, inequity, and nature loss. This roadmap outlines five strategic recommendations for federal agencies designed to put the U.S. on a path to maximizing the use of nature-based solutions.
Chesterfield Heights – Historic neighborhood with living shoreline construction project comprised of a raised berm (a mound of ground), grass plantings, wetland restoration, oyster reefs, and storm drains.
Posted in Climate Resilience Also tagged climate resilience, Coasts and Watersheds Comments are closed
Building climate resilience requires a whole-of-government approach. Here’s how Louisiana is making it happen.
As communities in southwest Florida, Puerto Rico and elsewhere in the Caribbean struggle to recover from the damages of an active hurricane season, efficient, proactive resilience solutions have never been more important.
Louisiana continues to be a world leader in the planning and implementation of coastal resilience. Louisiana will release the fourth iteration of its Coastal Master Plan in early 2023, which provides the most science-based and publicly informed plan in the nation. Since the first plan, $21.4 billion has been invested in flood resilience infrastructure – focused on restoration of coastal ecosystems that provide essential flood risk benefits and grey infrastructure such as levees and seawalls. Other state agencies have also invested billions in rebuilding their infrastructure, such as schools, hospitals and prisons.
Flooded hospital in Louisiana after a storm.
However, flood resilience is not just about infrastructure but also the ability of government agencies to maintain programs and services their constituents rely upon, from trash collection to food assistance to healthcare. Louisiana is the first to take a step toward a whole-of-government approach to ensure communities have access to the essential services they need to rebuild and thrive in the face of future flood risks.
Posted in Climate Resilience Also tagged coastal louisana, flooding, hurricanes, Louisiana, sea level rise Comments are closed
Iowa’s Watershed Approach provides a model for tackling big challenges on the Mississippi River.
The Mississippi River Basin is massive – it covers 40% of the contiguous U.S. and approximately two thirds of that area is farmland. Flooding and water quality are persistent issues across the basin, and experts predict they will only worsen with climate change and increasing intensity of agricultural production.
Iowa, a state in the basin, recently celebrated five years of its Iowa Watershed Approach (IWA) – a visionary program that has successfully demonstrated a collaborative strategy to reduce flood risk and improve water quality. With a $97 million dollar award from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, local and state leaders have installed more than 800 natural infrastructure projects across the state in the past few years. These projects are the result of collaboration among city officials, upstream farmers and state agencies.
I had the opportunity to travel to Iowa to join a bus tour of watershed projects that reduce flooding and improve water quality. Three elements have made the IWA a success and can help scale this approach to other watersheds across the basin: natural infrastructure, watershed approaches and shared science. Read More
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged coastal resilience, coastal restoration, Coasts and Watersheds, ecosystems, Iowa Watershed Approach, Mississippi River Comments are closed
4 strategies for policymakers to get more natural infrastructure in the ground, fast
Climate change is fueling increased flood risk across our nation’s coastal regions and floodplains.
States and local communities are turning to natural infrastructure as a key solution to build long-term flood resilience. Natural and nature-based features like wetlands, dunes and reefs offer multiple protective benefits — from absorbing stormwater, to minimizing the shock of storm surge to reducing flood severity.
However, identifying funding for natural infrastructure projects is not always straightforward.
Virginia takes one big step toward a more resilient future
Virginia is experiencing the highest rates of sea level rise on the Atlantic seaboard, posing a significant risk to 70% of its population that lives along the coast.
Last month Gov. Northam released the Virginia Coastal Master Planning Framework, a roadmap to guide development of the Commonwealth’s first Coastal Resilience Master Plan expected to be released in 2021. The plan will lay out a suite of projects to build resilience and reduce future flood risk to Virginia’s communities, economy and ecosystems. Read More
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged coastal resilience master plan, Northam, sea level rise, Virginia Comments are closed
Hurricanes are getting stronger, more dangerous and forming earlier. Here’s how we can prepare.
In mid-May, Tropical Storm Arthur skirted North Carolina’s coast before veering into the Atlantic. While damage was minimal, this marked the sixth straight year that a named storm developed in the Atlantic before the official start of hurricane season on June 1.
Experts are predicting this year to be a very active hurricane season, and even more concerning, researchers from NOAA and the University of Wisconsin at Madison just released a study that found climate change is causing more intense and dangerous hurricanes. Their research indicates that the likelihood of a tropical cyclone becoming a Category 3 or stronger storm has increased 8% per decade as a result of climate change. Read More
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged coronavirus, evacuation, hurricane season, NOAA Comments are closed
Experts warn of a more active hurricane season. We need more wetlands, fast.
Hurricane season is just around the corner, but experts are already predicting an above-average season.
Researchers at Colorado State University and meteorologists at Accuweather each released predictions indicating that the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season could be cause for concern with the potential for up to nine hurricanes and an “above-average probability for major hurricanes making landfall along the continental United States.”
Adding additional concern, water temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico are currently extremely warm, creating a recipe for intensifying storms. Read More
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged hurricane, hurricane season, natural infrastructure, storm, wetlands Read 2 Responses
New Jersey prepares for future with seas rising faster than anticipated
Coastal states are particularly vulnerable to climate change, and that is especially true in New Jersey. To better understand and plan for this risk, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) released a new report by Rutgers University that examines the state’s historical rates of sea level rise and updates future projections.
The report finds that sea level has increased at a higher-than-average rate for the Garden State, and seas could rise by an additional six feet by 2100.
Nearly eight years after Superstorm Sandy devastated the state, this and other report findings can help state planners and policymakers take proactive measures to help build resilience and mitigate impacts from rising seas and future storms. Read More
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged hurricane, Hurricane Sandy, New Jersey, sea level rise Read 1 Response