Growing Returns

Selected tag(s): community resilience

Learn how to navigate federal flood planning with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Flooding is the costliest disaster in the United States, touching communities from coastlines to cities to inland towns, and wreaking havoc across countless homes, businesses and ecosystems. Estimated to cost the nation up to almost $500 billion per year, more frequent and severe flooding events are causing communities to find solutions that tackle the potential impacts.  

Many local communities and entities seek opportunities to collaborate with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), who conduct federally funded flood risk management studies. These studies can be a great way to understand flood risks in a community and to build large-scale resilience.  

However, through a series of surveys and EDF experiences, many advocacy partners that have participated in these studies expressed the Corps planning process is confusing and complex! To address this concern, EDF is releasing a new step-by-step guide to help communities and fellow advocates navigate federal flood planning and learn when and how to engage.  

Explore our step-by-step guide now 

Delta flyover – Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion wetlands restoration project in the MS River Delta region of Louisiana

What is federal flood planning and how can it help your community? 

Before we get into the ins and outs of the step-by-step guide, let’s bring it back to the beginning. What is a federal flood feasibility study anyways?  

In simple terms, a federal flood study emerges when a local community or entity, later known as the study’s non-federal sponsor, raises flooding concerns to the Corps and expresses the need for a feasibility study that can identify solutions to this problem. The proposal must be authorized by Congress and receive funding through appropriations, and if that happens, the Corps will move forward with conducting a feasibility study that may eventually lead to the construction of a project(s). Potential projects could include anything from developing floodplain management plans to installing grey and green infrastructure to forming disaster response strategies.  

Why should you seek a federal flood study? No matter the size, budget or location, the Corps provides an opportunity to address flood risks in a community. Federal flood studies and their projects are designed to help leaders and communities prepare for extreme weather and disasters, which are increasing in frequency and severity. Experts agree it is financially smart to prepare before disaster strikes, with research showing that every dollar spent on mitigation can save $13 in damages. It also provides a safety net for residents to better protect their homes, businesses and families.   

Using our step-by-step guide to navigate federal flood planning 

EDF’s new step-by-step guide is a much-requested resource that gives advocates an overview of the complex federal flood planning process led by the Corps. This guide walks you through each step of the planning phase, allowing users to better understand and anticipate how a study and project develops. 

We also share ways advocates can engage during the planning process to ensure the study’s outcome best represents their community’s priorities and goals. The guide incorporates helpful resources, like a glossary, FAQ guide and templates along the way. 

Looking at case studies  

EDF is proud to have worked alongside several local communities on a variety of federal flood studies and projects, represented in the following case studies:  

Collier County, Florida 

In Collier County, Florida, EDF and local partners engaged in the planning process to propose the prioritization of nature-based solutions as well as hybridized, multi-hazard flooding and community engagement. We presented alternative study renderings with these priorities in mind, gaining media attention and eventually leading to changes in the proposed study. 

New York-New Jersey Harbour and Tributaries  

In the New York metropolitan area, EDF worked with a coalition of local partners to advocate for changes, like incorporating multi-hazard flooding solutions, to the Corps’ $52 billion plan to address flooding in the New York-New Jersey Harbor. The coalition launched a campaign website, gained media attention and ran advertisements, which led the non-federal sponsor to make a request for the Corps to take specific actions that better align with stakeholder priorities. 

New York City, New York State, Hudson River, USA, Water

Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion, Louisiana  

EDF and partners at the Mississippi River Delta Coalition have guided the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion project and played a key role in advocating for a $2.9 billion initiative to reconnect the Mississippi River to the Barataria Basin. Learn more about the benefits of this project.  

Explore our step-by-step guide now 

  

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Developing effective ways to measure a community’s climate resilience

Co-authored by: Anushi Garg and Ravena Pernanand

Anushi is the senior analyst for Environmental Defense Fund’s Climate Resilient Coasts & Watersheds program in New York-New Jersey. Ravena is a research analyst at Regional Plan Association.

Across the globe, we are experiencing detrimental impacts from climate change, with low-wealth communities and communities of color hit the hardest. And while there are several ways we can measure climate impacts — such as determining sea level rise or increasing temperatures — we still lack ways to easily answer the question “how resilient are we?” Or “how does one community’s resilience compare to another?” The right tools are needed to understand how well our communities, ecosystems and infrastructure bounce back from or avoid climate impacts in order for government officials, advocates and community members to effectively assess, track and implement future solutions.  

To address this gap, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and Regional Plan Association (RPA) collaborated on a pilot project alongside partners and stakeholders in New York City. We characterized stakeholders’ resilience priorities, such as having access to affordable and climate-safe shelter, and identified indicators that could measure the progress of these priorities.   Read More »

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Advancing North Carolina’s Flood Resiliency Blueprint to combat growing storm risks

Over the past five years, North Carolina communities have endured storm after storm. From the estimated $16 billion of damage caused by the powerful forces of Hurricane Florence to excessive rainfall that engulfed mountain towns during Tropical Storm Fred to the lasting impacts from various unnamed storms, we’ve seen firsthand how flooding disasters are changing North Carolina and its communities.  

Now, more than ever, new approaches are required to address the increasing rate and severity of extreme rain events in North Carolina to safeguard communities, ecosystems and local economies. One way to reduce these risks is to build flood resilience across the state, an effort that has proven to save $6 for every $1 spent pre-disaster 

North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is developing the state’s first-ever Flood Resiliency Blueprint in collaboration with numerous stakeholders, including Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), conservation partners, agricultural organizations, business representatives and local governments. And we are thrilled to celebrate the release of DEQ’s draft plan, which was presented to the General Assembly on January 23.  

At the Joint Legislative Commission on Government Operations Hurricane Response and Recovery subcommittee, DEQ Secretary Elizabeth Biser envisioned that “five years from now, other states will be looking to North Carolina because our process lets communities get back to day to day living quicker after storm events.” The Blueprint is a big step forward, resulting in a massive statewide effort dedicated to building resilient communities equipped to reduce and manage flood risk and vulnerabilities. 

Photo credit: Gene Gallin

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In a race against time, officials collaborate to speed up coastal restoration. Here’s how.

Louisiana is in the midst of a catastrophic land loss crisis. The state has already lost over 2,000 square miles of land, and it could lose as much as 4,000 square miles more if nothing is done to restore the coast.

As these wetlands disappear into the Gulf of Mexico, so do the natural protections that shield New Orleans and other coastal communities from rising sea levels and increasingly violent storms.

It’s a dilemma that’s playing out in coastal communities across the United States and around the world.

So it came as welcome news when state and federal regulators this month agreed to shave nearly two years off the five-year permitting process for a diversion project that will allow the mighty Mississippi River to do its natural business of building much-needed land.

It’s an acknowledgment that we’ve no time to lose in preparing for the unavoidable impacts of climate change. Read More »

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