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At the Agencies
NOAA
The rising and falling of the sea is a phenomenon upon which we can always depend. Tides are the regular rise and fall of the sea surface caused by the gravitational pull of the moon and sun and their position relative to the earth. There are some factors that cause the tides to be higher than what is "normally" seen from day to day. This bulletin tells you when you may experience higher than normal high tides for the period of time between March and May 2018.
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The International Coral Reef Initiative declared 2018 the third International Year of the Reef. Whether you're on the coast or far inland, NOAA has resources to help you embrace this opportunity to teach about coral reefs and our global ocean.
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EPA
EPA's Water Modeling Workgroup is hosting a
series of webinars to help water quality professionals better understand surface water quality modeling and how models can be used to solve common problems that face water quality regulators. The webinars are focused on modeling as it applies to the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), Standards, and Water Quality Permitting Programs, but they are applicable to a wide range of audiences.
Registration is required and is now available at:
Secretary Zinke announces $60 million cooperative agreement to promote fishing and boating and $14 million in Boating Infrastructure Grants.
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FEMA
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is seeking applicants for the Youth Preparedness Council, which brings together teens from across the country who are interested and engaged in community preparedness. Council members are selected based on their dedication to public service, their efforts in making a difference in their communities, and their potential to expand their impact as national leaders for preparedness. Students in 8th through 11th grade are eligible to apply.
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The Mitigation Framework Leadership Group (MitFLG) developed the draft
National Mitigation Investment Strategy
(Investment Strategy) per a request by the Government Accountability Office after Hurricane Sandy. The Investment Strategy is intended to provide a national approach to investments in mitigation activities and risk management across all levels of government and the private and non-profit sectors in order to reduce the nation's exposure to disaster losses. Additional information on the effort and the Investment Strategy can be found
here
.
The current draft of the Investment Strategy contains initial ideas about how to improve mitigation investment, focusing on themes such as improved collaboration across sectors, innovative financing, shared fiscal responsibility, increased data sharing, improved risk-informed communication, and a resilient built environment. The draft document, however, is just that - a draft - it offers only a starting point for arriving at a final, national strategy. It is intended to provoke feedback and input from diverse perspectives - we need your feedback to help make this a truly national strategy. A copy of the draft document and a fact sheet on the effort are attached.
Please review this draft and, based on your experience and expertise, provide feedback, any specific ideas, illustrations or examples that could add to or improve the recommendations, and thoughts on implementation. Comments can be submitted to the development team at
FEMA-NMIS@fema.dhs.gov
.
The MitFLG intends to finalize the Investment Strategy by the fall of 2018. In order to meet this ambitious timeline, comments are requested by March 11, 2018.
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In the News
Over the next century, sea level rise is expected to wreak havoc on the U.S. coastlines - and a new analysis shows that the Northwest is not immune. Nearly all coastal wetlands in Oregon, Washington and California will be swamped at the highest predicted sea level change. Sea level rise is a byproduct of climate change. It happens as the world's oceans warm and physically expand. Melting glaciers and ice sheets are also contributing.
New research from the U.S. Geological Survey gives the first ever insight to how specific bays, marshes and harbors will fare.
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Friends of Coastal South Carolina, an organization which has been supporting conservation along the South Carolina coast since 1996, will host the first annual Low country Evening for Wildlife Thursday March 15, 2018 at Alhambra Hall in Old Village, Mt Pleasant, SC 5:30 pm to 9:30 pm. The event features a presentation by National Geographic photographer Vince Musi.
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In the States and Regions
East Coast
Texas communities slammed by Hurricane Harvey can now apply for a share of a half-billion dollars in federal money that will cover everything from buying out flood-prone homes to building new seawalls and restoring sand dunes, Gov.
Greg Abbott told an audience in Rockport on Tuesday (Feb 13). The state expects to receive just over $1 billion in hazard mitigation money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency by the one-year anniversary of Harvey's landfall in late August, Abbott said, but half of that is available immediately.
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Mangroves have doubled along the east coast of Florida in last 28 years according to Dr. Ilka Feller, a Senior Scientist at the Smithsonian Institution. She expects mangroves to expand into Georgia marshes by 2060.
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Gulf Coast
After meeting with about 4,000 residents over the course of a year, state officials are working on a report that could reimagine how communities in southeastern Louisiana will deal with coastal erosion and sea-level rise.
If some of the proposed policies become reality, residents in coastal areas at risk of serious, repeated flooding could become part of a massive campaign to encourage them to relocate to higher ground.
Among the ideas under consideration:
- Prohibiting residential construction outside planned levees and floodwalls in some high-risk areas that would experience extreme flooding.
- Creating a buyout program so residents can afford to move out of those high-risk areas.
- Phasing out the homestead exemption for property taxes in high-risk areas outside levees and floodwalls.
- Requiring new commercial developments to have bonding that will pay for their demolition at the end of their useful life or long-term vacancy.
- Requiring certain communities to participate in a program that will lower flood insurance rates if they limit development in flood-prone areas and encourage flood-resistant construction.
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Alabama has partnered with federal wildlife officials and nonprofit groups to add 251 acres of sensitive coastal marshes, creeks and forests to the popular Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge's Little Point Clear Unit on the Fort Morgan Peninsula in Baldwin County.
The Conservation Fund recently purchased and transferred the property to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at the request of the FWS and the state of Alabama for addition to the Refuge.
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West Coast and Pacific Islands
Communities across the state seeking funding for important clean-water projects are about to get a significant boost from the Washington Department of Ecology. The agency announced that it is awarding nearly $220 million in grants and loans to help pay for 230 high-priority, clean-water projects. Thanks to the funding, cities from Sequim to Walla Walla and all the way to Tonasket will now be able to upgrade sewage treatment systems, manage polluted stormwater runoff, and complete projects to prevent pollution.
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The California State Coastal Conservancy announces the availability of Explore the Coast grants, applications are due April 16th. These grants fund public agencies, tribes and nonprofit organizations to run programs to help more people to explore California's spectacular coast. Explore the Coast grants seeks to increase recreational, educational, or stewardship opportunities particularly for people and communities that may face challenges getting to or enjoying the coast.
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Great Lakes
Ohio and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have settled a lawsuit over dredging in the Cuyahoga River.The state and the federal agency have fought for years over how to handle sediment scooped from the river. The Army Corps wanted to dump it into Lake Erie, but the state said that was unsafe. Under the settlement,the Army Corps will bear the cost of disposing of sediment dredged in 2016 and 2017. That material was placed in confined disposal facilities, not in the lake. The settlement was filed Wednesday in federal court in Cleveland.
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Announcements & More
EPA Environmental Education Grants
Under the Environmental Education Grants Program, EPA seeks grant proposals from eligible applicants to support environmental education projects that promote environmental awareness and stewardship and help provide people with the skills to take responsible actions to protect the environment. This grant program provides financial support for projects that design, demonstrate, and/or disseminate environmental education practices, methods, or techniques.
Proposals are due March 15, 2018.
Tips and Stories for Coastal Managers, Delivered to Your Inbox!
Have the latest technical topics, professional tips, and stories from your peers emailed to you each month.
Subscribe to NOAA Office for Coastal Management's recently redesigned
Digital Coast Connections newsletter. Stay in the know about new data, tools, and resources from NOAA's Digital Coast, as well as announcements from the research reserves, the Coastal Zone Management Program, and the Coral Reef Conservation Program.
Email the office for more information.
NOAA Great Lakes Habitat Restoration Project Grants under the U.S. Great Lakes Restoration Initiative -
Department of Commerce
The objective of the Fiscal Year 2018 NOAA Great Lakes Habitat Restoration Grants solicitation is to provide federal financial and technical assistance to habitat restoration projects that both meet NOAA's mission to restore coastal habitats and support the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI)
(https://www.glri.us/actionplan/pdfs/glri-action-plan-2.pdf) goal to protect and restore habitats to sustain healthy populations of native fish species in the eight U.S. Great Lakes states (New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota). NOAA delivers funding and technical expertise to restore Great Lakes coastal habitats. These habitats support valuable fisheries and important coastal resources, improve the quality of our water, provide recreational opportunities for the public's use and enjoyment, and increase the resilience of our coastal communities to the effects of changing climatic conditions. Proposals submitted under this solicitation will be primarily evaluated based on their ability to demonstrate they have strong on-the-ground habitat restoration components that will lead to measurable impact on the project's target species and their ecosystem in the long term. To view full details, please
click here.
NOAA Coastal Resilience Grants
Pre-proposals are due by 11:59 PM Eastern time, on March 7, 2018. Full proposals from eligible applicants should be submitted through
www.Grants.gov by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on the date to be provided directly to eligible applicants.
FEMA and Interagency Partners Release Draft National Mitigation Investment Strategy for Public Comment
For our nation to become more resilient, we must develop a more effective and efficient way to invest in mitigation. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security tasked the Mitigation Framework Leadership Group (MitFLG) to develop a National Mitigation Investment Strategy (Investment Strategy). As of January 11, the public is encouraged to review the draft Investment Strategy and provide comment. The draft Investment Strategy makes a series of recommendations, organized by six desired outcomes which, if met, could result in a nation better equipped for, and less vulnerable to, natural hazards. The draft Investment Strategy provides a national approach to investments in mitigation activities and risk management across federal, state, local, and territorial and tribal government and the private and non-profit sectors.
Worth Exploring! Using Nature to Address Flooding
Nature offers a powerful set of tools for addressing hazards like flooding and erosion. Nature-based solutions use natural systems, mimic natural processes, or work in tandem with traditional approaches to address these specific hazards. Communities across the country- along rivers or coasts, large or small, rural or urban - can incorporate nature-based solutions in local planning, zoning, regulations, and built projects to help reduce their exposure to flood and erosion impacts.
Training
Environmental Communications Planning
This course is designed to give environmental professionals the necessary tools to write a successful and comprehensive Communications Plan. These plans can be used internally, to manage change or initiatives within an organization, or externally to communicate a message to stakeholders and/or the public. For more information,
click here.
Restoration Ecology
Using Mitigation and Sustainable Design Techniques to Reduce Stormwater Impacts and Increase Storm Resiliency. For more information,
click here.
OneNOAA Science Seminars, 2017
Title: Wave Energy-Based Guidance for Living Shorelines
Seminars are open to the public. For remote access, location, abstracts and more, visit the OneNOAA Science Seminar Calendar at:
http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/seminars/
Seminars are posted in Eastern Time and subject to changes without notice; please check the web page for the latest seminar updates.
Events & Webinars
March 19 - 21, 2018
March 20 - 22,2018
March 22 - 23, 2018
April 23 - 25, 2017
April 26 - 28, 2018
May 9, 2018
June 11- 14, 2018
August 6 - 9, 2018
September 17 -19, 2018
October 30 - Nov 2 , 2018
December 8 - 13, 2018
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Call for Proposals Now Available
Investing In Our Coasts: Environment, Economy, Culture
America's coasts continue to be a focal point for gauging our nation's well-being on many fronts. The Summit theme, "Investing In Our Coasts: Environment, Economy, Culture," explores the wide variety of roles our coasts play, ranging from economic to environmental to cultural.
RAE welcomes you to submit a proposal for the Program and participate via an oral presentation, dedicated or alternative session, or poster. Please see the Call for Proposals for details and plan to join us! Proposals are due by April 6, 2018.
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