{"id":13013,"date":"2021-07-29T14:51:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-29T18:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/?p=13013"},"modified":"2021-08-04T09:12:14","modified_gmt":"2021-08-04T13:12:14","slug":"coastal-natural-infrastructure-investments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/2021\/07\/29\/coastal-natural-infrastructure-investments\/","title":{"rendered":"4 strategies for policymakers to get more natural infrastructure in the ground, fast"},"content":{"rendered":"

Climate change is fueling increased flood risk across our nation\u2019s coastal regions and floodplains.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

States and local communities are\u00a0turning to\u00a0<\/span>natural infrastructure<\/a><\/span> as a key solution to build long-term flood resilience. Natural and nature-based features like wetlands, dunes and reefs offer\u00a0<\/span>multiple protective benefits<\/span>\u00a0\u2014 from\u00a0absorbing stormwater, to\u00a0minimizing\u00a0the shock of storm surge to reducing flood severity.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However,\u00a0identifying\u00a0funding for\u00a0natural infrastructure\u00a0projects is not always straightforward.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

My\u00a0former EDF\u00a0colleagues Carson Young, Shannon Cunniff\u00a0and I\u00a0<\/span>recently published\u00a0<\/span>new research<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>assessing progress on nationwide investments in coastal natural infrastructure with flood risk reduction benefits. We found that investments in coastal natural infrastructure in the U.S. have increased at a rate of approximately 7% annually, with an average of $593 million in investments per year and $4.15 billion total between 2012 and 2018. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s\u00a0a sizable sum and a positive trend, but\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0not\u00a0nearly enough\u00a0to address the growing flood threats associated with climate change.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u00a0are\u00a0four\u00a0strategies for\u00a0getting\u00a0more\u00a0natural infrastructure projects off the ground.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Develop consistent, long-term funding sources for natural infrastructure.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Annual investments in natural infrastructure have\u00a0been\u00a0highly variable, primarily because\u00a0funding from some sources is inconsistent.\u00a0The Natural Resource Damage Assessment process has funded many projects,\u00a0as a result of\u00a0disasters like oil spills. Funding programs that\u00a0are explicitly dedicated to\u00a0natural infrastructure improvements can ensure more consistent\u00a0investments.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For\u00a0example,\u00a0the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation was the single largest funder of coastal natural infrastructure projects\u00a0in 2018. Its\u00a0coastal resilience\u00a0grant program specifically aims to\u00a0<\/span>restore and grow natural\u00a0features\u00a0to protect coastal communities,\u00a0while also enhancing habitat\u00a0for fish and wildlife.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Reliable, flexible sources of funding are necessary to advance significant projects that incorporate natural infrastructure features. Steady investments build community capacity to design and implement nature-based solutions that meet local priorities.<\/p>\nReliable, flexible sources of funding are necessary to advance significant projects that incorporate natural infrastructure features. <\/a><\/span>Share on X<\/a><\/span>\n

2. Invest in natural infrastructure before disaster strikes.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Leveraging disasters to promote\u00a0projects that mitigate hazards is\u00a0common\u00a0practice.\u00a0Most notably, civil and criminal penalties from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 created several long-term funding sources, which\u00a0helps to explain\u00a0the relatively large investments in Gulf states, especially\u00a0Louisiana.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, there remains a growing need to support natural infrastructure projects before disasters strike. The recently enacted FEMA Building Resilient Infrastructures and Communities (BRIC)\u00a0program is not included in the study but represents the type of pre-disaster federal investments communities require to avoid the worst effects of climate-fueled storms and flooding.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Pre-disaster spending is\u00a0a wise economic strategy too, as federal investments in flood hazard mitigation save\u00a0$7 for every $1 spent.\u00a0While some states have\u00a0devised\u00a0<\/span>creative ways to fund coastal resilience<\/a><\/span>,\u00a0expanding\u00a0proactive investments\u00a0would\u00a0better protect communities from growing flood risks.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

3. Consider the environmental and social benefits when choosing projects. <\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was the largest federal source of funding for natural infrastructure, that\u2019s largely linked to beach and dune rebuilding projects. For decades, policymakers have focused primarily on economic development to decide on strategies for flood damage reduction.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Reef, wetland and mangrove restoration projects offer multiple benefits by improving water quality, revitalizing habitats and providing recreational opportunities. Highlighting the social and environmental co-benefits of natural infrastructure projects can help to secure more funding. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For\u00a0example,\u00a0the Corps\u00a0could fund more natural infrastructure\u00a0as part of its flood risk and storm damage reduction programs.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

4. Improve tracking of funding for natural infrastructure through transparent, publicly accessible databases.<\/span><\/b> \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Continued tracking\u00a0of\u00a0investments in\u00a0natural infrastructure\u00a0to reduce flood impacts\u00a0helps\u00a0to understand\u00a0progress in\u00a0resilience investments.\u00a0Detailed record keeping, transparency and publicly accessible data are needed to better\u00a0identify\u00a0sources of funding\u00a0and advance accountability.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With greater transparency of investment and monitoring, we would have\u00a0a better understanding of the multiple benefits of\u00a0natural\u00a0infrastructure and\u00a0stronger accountability\u00a0for\u00a0the implementation of projects.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It’s\u00a0exciting\u00a0to see natural infrastructure investments increase at a time when they are desperately needed to help communities manage the growing\u00a0impacts of extreme weather\u00a0\u2014\u00a0but there is considerable room for improvement.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read the paper here.<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Natural infrastructure investments are desperately needed to help communities manage the growing\u00a0impacts of extreme weather\u00a0\u2014\u00a0but there is considerable room for improvement.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4658,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[107017],"tags":[120555,243,85132],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-13013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-coasts-watersheds","tag-coasts-watersheds-tag","tag-flooding","tag-natural-infrastructure"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4658"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13013"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13013\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13013"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=13013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}