At the Agencies
EPA is releasing a new web-based tool that helps local officials and other community members consider the benefits and uses of green infrastructure. The Green Infrastructure Wizard, or GIWiz, responds to growing community interest in using green infrastructure as a means of addressing water quality and a range of other local goals.
On October 7, NOAA's Climate Program Office (CPO), announced it has awarded $48 million for 53 new projects. Research will be conducted by NOAA laboratories and operational centers, universities, and other agency and research partners to advance the understanding, modeling, and prediction of Earth's climate system and to improve decision making.
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NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science has awarded more than $1.1 million for research to give coastal communities new ways to incorporate natural infrastructure, such as restored wetlands, into their coastal resilience planning for sea level rise and coastal flooding. "As more people continue to move and live near the coast we have the challenge of protecting them from coastal hazards while also protecting the ecosystems in their communities," said Russell Callender, Ph.D., acting assistant NOAA administrator for the
National Ocean Service. "These awards will provide the new tools coastal managers need to plan for sea level rise and flooding, and improve the coastal resilience of their communities and the ecosystem that sustains them."
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In the News
Last week, New Zealand was praised for plans to establish the world's
third-largest fully protected marine sanctuary. Before the applause even died down, Chile swooped in and one-upped the island country.
For just the third time on record,
scientists say they are now watching the unfolding of a massive worldwide coral bleaching event, spanning the globe from Hawaii to the Indian Ocean. And they fear that thanks to warm sea temperatures, the ultimate result could be the loss of more than 12,000 square kilometers, or over 4,500 square miles, of coral this year - with particularly strong impacts in Hawaii and other U.S. tropical regions, and potentially continuing into 2016.
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In the States and Regions
East Coast
After lifting their State of Emergency status on Tuesday, the Town of North Topsail Beach held a press conference Wednesday morning to update the area on the extent of damage there. Assistant Town Manager Carin Faulkner said their 11 miles of coastline suffered dune loss and dune breaches, but that no structural damage is reported. Heavy rains and storm surge caused some flooding and high tides that washed away steps leading from homes down to the beach.
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Much like a town in the face of a major coastal storm, local officials, coastal groups and politicians are bracing for impact for when the Federal Emergency Management Agency releases its revised flood maps. The new maps-revised versions of the proposed 2013 maps-will be released sometime this fall, likely this month.
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Harris Creek reef restoration at 350 acres, is largest ever. Harris Creek was once home to nearly 1,500 acres of Maryland's best oyster reefs, but in recent decades its oyster population - like those in much of the Bay - had dramatically dwindled. When biologists surveyed the creek a few years ago, "we barely found an acre that was functioning at what we would consider the historic level," said Stephanie Westby, oyster project coordinator with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Chesapeake Bay Office.
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency provided a total of $85 thousand toward establishing a state-of-the-art coastal observing system in Casco Bay to help coastal managers evaluate the threat of coastal acidification from excess CO2 in the atmosphere. The system was deployed on April 23, 2015. "Ocean acidification resulting from climate change and excess greenhouse gases isn't a distant threat - it is already impacting coastal communities across the country," said Ken Kopocis, deputy assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Water. "EPA is helping coastal managers determine regional drivers that may exacerbate acidification of their coastal waters to help them develop appropriate adaptation and mitigation options."
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Gulf Coast
Louisiana's coastal marshes will be the key focus of [the] $8.8 billion [that] BP will pay to restore vast natural resource losses caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, part of a $20.8 billion settlement with federal and Gulf state governments announced Monday (Oct. 5).
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A panel approved using $134 million provided by energy giant BP PLC on 10 projects to help the Gulf of Mexico recover from a catastrophic 2010 oil spill. The approval came from a trustee council made up of Gulf coast states and federal officials overseeing ecological restoration from the offshore spill. About $126 million will go to projects to help sea turtles, fish, vegetation and birds and $8 million on enhancing recreational uses.
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West Coast and Pacific Islands
A plan to save Waikiki from a water disaster would also change the face of the Ala Wai Canal. On Wednesday, the proposed changes to the canal were presented at Washington Middle School followed by public comments.
The plan calls for building six in-stream debris and detention basins along the Makiki, Manoa and Palolo streams, as well as three more detention basins in open space areas of the urbanized part of the areas watershed and higher floodwalls on the Ala Wai Canal. Those walls are planned to be around 4-feet high.
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One of Alaska's most eroded coastal Native villages is being eyed as a possible national model for relocating whole communities whose futures are threatened by natural disasters escalated by climate change. The state is hoping to kick-start a mass exodus from the tiny village of Newtok through a national competition for states and local governments vying for a slice of nearly $1 billion in grants to be awarded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD's National Disaster Resilience Competition is billed as an effort addressing climate change and extreme weather.
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Great Lakes
On October 2, the U.S Environmental Protection Agency announced it has awarded a $10 million five-year grant to Central Michigan University to continue implementation of EPA's Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Monitoring Program. Central Michigan University's project team includes SUNY College at Brockport and other institutions and agencies.
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On October 1, The U.S Environmental Protection Agency announced it has awarded a $10 million five-year grant to Central Michigan University to continue implementation of EPA's Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Monitoring Program.
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Announcements
ASBPA - Dune Management Challenges on Developed Coasts
The American Shore and Beach Preservation Association is hosting the subject workshop in Kitty Hawk, NC, Oct 26 - 28, 2015.
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez named a veteran planner to coordinate the county's response to climate change. James Murley, currently director of the South Florida Regional Planning Council, will assume the title of chief resilience officer - a post that was created only five days ago with the implementation of the 2016 budget. Murley will report to Jack Osterholt, the deputy mayor who oversees the county's climate-change and environmental functions, Gimenez said in a memo to county commissioners Monday.
OneNOAA Science Seminars, 2015
Title: Large-scale Chesapeake Bay Oyster Restoration: Completion of the Harris Creek Project, a Milestone under the Chesapeake Bay Agreement
Date & Time: Wed, October 14, 12pm - 1pm
Title: Land Cover Products for Understanding Water Quality Impacts by NOAA's Office for Coastal Management
Date & Time: Tuesday, October 27, 1 pm
Seminars are posted in Eastern Time and subject to changes without notice; please check the web page for the latest seminar updates.
Upcoming Workshops
Blue Carbon: A Management Tool for the Conservation and Restoration of Coastal Wetlands.
Who should attend? Those interested in coastal conservation and restoration, including natural resource managers, land owners, land trusts, municipalities, policy makers, planners, real estate professionals, attorneys and financial advisors, academia, and federal, state and local officials.
Participants will:
* Learn the basics of Blue Carbon and its potential applications to increase the value of coastal wetland conservation and restoration;
* Increase their capacity and understanding to incorporate greenhouse gas functions into resource management; and
* Assess opportunities and constraints for implementing Blue Carbon projects in their region.
Events
October 14-16, 2015
**In advance of the meeting, ASBPA is distributing a survey to regional, state, and local coastal managers to
determine perspectives and challenges in coastal sand dune management. Please click here to participate.
October 14 - 15, 2015
October 26 - 28, 2015
November 8 -12, 2015
December 1- 2, 2015
March 14 -17 , 2016
December 10 -15, 2016
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