Case Studies | U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit

Communities, businesses, and individuals are taking action to document their vulnerabilities and build resilience to climate-related impacts. Click dots on the map to preview case studies, or browse stories below the map. Use the drop-down menus above to find stories of interest. To expand your results, click the Clear Filters link.

group of people sitting at desks facing an instructor at the front of the classroom.

Amending Land Use Codes for Natural Infrastructure Planning

Learn how a Sea Grant agent is working with one community to audit and amend its existing land use codes and ordinances to be more inclusive of green infrastructure projects.

Zoomed in view of someone preparing a report. Someone is reaching across the papers with a pen.

Buncombe County, NC Comprehensive Plan 2043

Charlotte, NC Flood Risk Assessment and Reduction Community Guidebook

City of Fayetteville’s Watershed Master Plan

In order to better assess the severity of city-wide floods and create flood mitigation solutions, Fayetteville, North Carolina’s city officials embarked on a $13 million Watershed Master Plan program in 2019.

City of Santa Cruz, CA Climate Action Plan

Clark County, Nevada, Community Sustainability & Climate Action Plan

Destruction to the Norwalk Calf Pasture Pier caused by Hurricane Sandy

Climate Preparedness Workshops Provide a Head Start Toward Resilience

After a series of extreme weather events, the City of Bridgeport, Connecticut, looked for ways to prepare for future storms. Their planning process had just started when they got hit again...

Climate Resilient San Diego

Tropical vegetation along white sand beach

Collaborating for Success: Sustaining Water Supply on a Pacific Island

As El Niño can bring severe drying conditions to the islands of American Samoa, groups collaborated to ensure that decision makers have access to the local climate and water data they need to recognize—and prepare for—the threat of drought.

Designing a Communications Handout About Sea Level Rise

Faced with episodic high-tide flooding, partners in Charleston, South Carolina, calculated the potential extent and frequency of similar flooding in the future. Focus group feedback on this information helped organizers design an informative fact sheet.

Mill River Culvert, Old Croton Aqueduct, Tarrytown, New York

Extreme Rainfall Analyses Can Point to Right Size for Culverts

Across most of the United States, the heaviest rainfall events have become heavier and more frequent. New tools can help decision makers choose culverts with appropriate capacities for the future.

Improving Water Quality by Dealing with the First Inch of Rain

The suburban city of Mount Rainier, Maryland, is doing its part to improve the water quality of a polluted river in its region: residents and organizations are using green infrastructure to reduce stormwater runoff.

Bridge over the Huron River, Bandemer Park, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Integrating Education and Stormwater Management for Healthy Rivers and Residents

The City of Ann Arbor recognized stormwater runoff as a growing threat to the quality of their water supply. They're addressing the issue with two complementary strategies.

LA SAFE Regional Adaptation Strategy

Charleston skyline from Charleston Harbor

Minimizing the Impacts of Coastal Flooding Helps City Prepare for Sea Level Rise

Several times per year, seawater floods some of the streets in Charleston, South Carolina. Taking steps to deal with this "nuisance" flooding can help the city prepare for sea level rise.

Norfolk Establishes Strategy for Coastal Resilience

At the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, the city of Norfolk, Virginia, lies within ten feet of sea level. It's taking steps to envision and implement a resilient future.

Planning for the Future in a Floodplain

After a nightmare flood in 1997, Fort Collins, Colorado, stepped up efforts to improve resilience in the face of extreme events—efforts that will also serve the community well if climate change leads to heavier rainstorms.

Preparing for La Niña

O'ahu's busy construction industry depends on being able to dispose of demolition and construction wastes. Forecasts for a developing La Niña—often accompanied by heavy rains in Hawai'i—alerted managers at the island's main construction landfill to their climate vulnerability.

Puget Sound Regional Council Climate Change and Resilience Guidance

Ranchers and researchers in Marin County discuss carbon farming

Ranchers in Marin County Consider Carbon Credits

Ranchers are participating in a pilot project to improve carbon storage and reduce net greenhouse gas emissions. After quantifying their baseline emissions and carbon storage, they implement conservation practices that may let them tap into revenue from voluntary carbon markets.