Coastal Community Resilience Research
- Environmental and Economic Challenges in the Chesapeake Bay
- Partnerships and Project Focus
- Anticipated Outcomes
- Research Activities
- Related Resources
EPA is collaborating with partners and stakeholders in the Chesapeake Bay region to investigate the ability of natural infrastructure, such as wetlands, tidal marshes, and seagrasses, to mitigate climate change impacts to coastal communities.
The goal of this research is to support communities with knowledge and tools for building resilience to the impacts of climate change while maximizing other benefits, including carbon sequestration.
Environmental and Economic Challenges in the Chesapeake Bay
Coastal communities in the Chesapeake Bay area depend on the Chesapeake Bay waters and their natural resources for their livelihood, including seafood, tourism, and recreation industries. The region faces increasing flooding issues from poor drainage, storm events, higher tides, sea level rise, sinking land, and erosion, which can adversely affect the economy, human and ecosystem health, and cultural preservation.
Partnerships and Project Focus
EPA researchers are coordinating with partners and the local community of Crisfield, Maryland to co-produce research on strategies to address tidal and storm flooding issues and other community resilience concerns.
Research will address coastal resilience issues by investigating natural infrastructure strategies, such as restoring saltmarshes or implementing living shorelines, and will identify and assess additional community benefits provided by different nature-based coastal resilience and climate change adaptation strategies. Research and educational programming will support community capacity to implement strategies.
Partners:
- City of Crisfield
- Chesapeake Bay Program
- The Nature Conservancy
- George Mason University
- University of Maryland Environmental Finance Center
- Maryland Department of Natural Resources
- Maryland Department of the Environment
Anticipated Outcomes
This research will lead to increased understanding of how natural infrastructure strategies can improve coastal resilience and the additional community benefits these strategies can provide. Results will ultimately be used to provide information needed by coastal communities to make decisions and consider tradeoffs when building resilience.
Research Activities
Based on insights from initial partner and community engagement, the collaborative research activities below have been started as part of the project.
Assessing Nature-Based Strategies
We are studying nature-based solutions―such as marsh restoration, living shorelines, sand dune restoration, and artificial reefs―that have decreased storm surge and erosion in locations with environmental conditions similar to Crisfield.
Asset Vulnerability and Access Assessment
By using different flood scenarios, we are studying the vulnerability of community assets, such as hospitals and schools, to flooding and how public access may be affected.
Supporting Community Capacity
To support communities as they adapt to environmental change, we are increasing access to information, resources, and networks that will raise public awareness of environmental and resilience issues and solutions, such as coastal flooding, drainage, sea level rise, and nature-based infrastructure.
Natural Strategies in Planning
We are supporting community decision making around trade-offs of different nature-based strategies to ensure that they align with the values and desired future of the community.