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.

Wooden boardwalk leading to a beach with trees on either side and mountains in the distance.

A Community Effort Stems Runoff to Safeguard Corals in Puerto Rico

In Culebra, Puerto Rico, the community used green infrastructure to decrease coastal erosion and mitigate damage to their near-shore coral reef.

American Rivers: Increasing Community and Ecological resilience by Removing a Patapsco River Fish Barrier

American Rivers created an adaptive management plan to help mitigate and respond to potential risks that could occur while removing the Patapsco River’s Bloede Dam—a significant barrier to river flow and fish passage.

An Integrated Plan for Water and Long-Term Ecological Resilience

Recognizing their vulnerability to drought and climate change, federal, state, tribal, and local partners in Washington’s Yakima River Basin developed a comprehensive plan to meet their diverse needs for water into the future.

Standing man looking at a stand of trees in a forest

And the Trees Will Last Forever

In northern Wisconsin, tribal foresters from the Menominee Nation are working to speed regeneration of forest areas that have been treated for invasive diseases. Their efforts are also creating forests that are better adapted to future conditions.

Bear Mountain and tarn below the Devils Punchbowl tarn in the Siskiyou Wilderness.

Anticipating and Preventing the Spread of Invasive Plants

Finding and eradicating invasive plants is a tough job that requires constant vigilance. County-scale maps that show where invasive plants are and where they have the potential to spread in the future are helping on-the-ground efforts to build the resilience of natural vegetation.

Panorama of downtown Asheville, North Carolina

Asheville Makes a Plan for Climate Resilience

This western North Carolina city is using the Steps to Resilience to proactively plan for expected climate change impacts.

Assessing a Tropical Estuary's Climate Change Risks

Puerto Rico's San Juan Bay Estuary faces multiple threats, including heavy use by urban populations and impacts of climate change. A workbook from the EPA's Climate Ready Estuaries program helped them catalog, prioritize, and address their climate risks.

Morro Bay, Morro Rock, and the City of Morro Bay

Assessing Climate Risks in a National Estuary

Stakeholders of the Morro Bay National Estuary Program in California worked with resources from the EPA's Climate Ready Estuaries program to identify their climate risks. Their results helped them prioritize actions for building resilience.

Battling Blazes Across Borders

Wildfire is a naturally occurring phenomenon that doesn’t recognize political boundaries. When large fires rage in parts of North America, the countries of Canada, the United States, and Mexico strive to work together to share firefighting resources.

Boosting Ecosystem Resilience in the Southwest's Sky Islands

Conservation organizations teamed up to document the climate vulnerability of mountain springs that support unique ecosystems. Now, the Alliance they formed facilitates restoration work to enhance habitats and improve resiliency.

Planning drawing for College Avenue in Fort Colllins, CO

Building Smart in the Floodplain

The city of Fort Collins, Colorado, found a win-win solution to problems it faced with 100 acres of abandoned property. The city now enjoys new green space, improved floodwater management, and a boosted economy.

California State Coastal Conservancy: Gravel Beach and Berm for Shorebird Habitat Creation, Erosion Control and Flood Protection

An adaptive management plan was used in a pilot project to design a 300-foot, nature-based feature. The approach included designing and implementing a robust monitoring protocol to assess site feasibility and eventually scale the project from a 300-foot feature to a one-mile feature.

A helicopter drops water on the Waldo Canyon fire in June, 2012

Charting Colorado’s Vulnerability to Climate Change

Responding to growing awareness of climate change impacts, the State of Colorado commissioned two of its universities to complete an initial study of the state's vulnerabilities.

Climate Data Inform Recovery Plan for Endangered Butterfly

After a butterfly species disappeared from a location where it had been found for many years, conservation professionals accessed climate projections to identify potential habitat for its recovery.

Viewing data in the control room of Tampa Bay Water.

Climate Outlooks Help Water Supply Planning

When water utility personnel recognized their groundwater withdrawals were damaging ecosystems in the Tampa Bay area, they found new ways to reduce their dependence on it.

Barron Collier Bridge from Laishley Park in Punta Gorda, Florida

Developing and Using an Index to Guide Water Supply Decisions

It's not easy to keep faucets flowing year-round in southwest Florida. To make sure their customers can get ample clean water at a good price—even through dry seasons—water utility managers crafted a useful index to help them decide which water sources to use.

muddy lake bottom with stream running through it

Drought in the ACF River Basin

Explore the historical context of drought in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) Basin, a primer on how water resources are managed there, and a look ahead to the future.

A worker bee returns to the colony with its load of pollen

Field, Farm, Forest, and City: Sustaining Pollinator Health to Build Ecosystem Resilience

Climate variability and change are among the many threats that pollinators such as bees, butterflies, bats, and other species face. Beekeepers and pollinator advocates are working to preserve pollinators and the ecosystem that depends upon them.

waves crash down at the shoreline where large rocks are scattered.

Florida Experiment Lessens Shoreline Damage from High-Energy Waves

Click the link below to read Florida Experiment Lessens Shoreline Damage from High-Energy Waves as published by the NOAA Office for Coastal Management. Florida Experiment Lessens Shoreline Damage from High-Energy Waves »

Residential trees and one of Chicago's elevated commuter trains

Fortifying Chicago's Urban Forest

Trees within a city can help reduce urban heat, control stormwater, and provide habitat to local wildlife. As climate conditions change, a Chicago group is working to enhance its urban forest so that the city can continue to receive these benefits.

Green or Gray? Choosing to Preserve Water Quality

Faced with the potential of a large expense related to water quality, the Portland (Maine) Water District performed a thorough analysis of their options. Their choice came down to making an investment in conservation or concrete.

A view of a hot-cold map generated from the North Atlantic LCC Conservation Planning Atlas

Hot-Cold Map Provides Blueprint for Protecting Ecosystems

A regional conservation partnership in Massachusetts needed to update their approach to evaluating land acquisitions. Adding the complexity of climate change to their map helped resolve their vision.

How Vulnerable Are Salmon to a Changing Climate?

Researchers in Washington's South Fork Nooksack River are seeking to better understand the potential impacts of climate change on water quality and salmon recovery—a process they hope can be replicated and scaled in other watersheds across the country.

The Meramec River running past Onondaga Cave State Park in Missouri.

Identifying High-Priority Conservation Lands to Enhance Flood Mitigation

Community groups are working to establish a connected ring of conservation land around St. Louis, Missouri. They're using an innovative strategy to help them target land that can also enhance their flood mitigation efforts.

Restoring native longleaf pine ecosystems on the Francis Marion National Forest may include the use of management strategies like prescribed burning.

Incorporating Climate Change Into a New Forest Management Plan

Facing sea level rise, increasing numbers of wildfires, and encroachment of invasive species, managers of a national forest chose to integrate climate change into their new plan.

Innovative Green Infrastructure Project Has Diverse Funding And Financing Portfolio

Once a defunct golf course, Exploration Green is now a 200-acre urban green space providing the community with an innovative solution for their stormwater flooding and recreational needs.

Looking to the Future on Alaska’s North Slope

As ice retreats and energy resources along Alaska's North Slope become more accessible, diverse stakeholders consider potential futures and develop a science-informed view of the implications of development in the region.

Mapping Wildland Values and Climate Change Vulnerability

Using climate change projections, conservationists can assess which of the wildest lands remaining in the contiguous United States are most vulnerable to the impacts of future climate change.

Mescalero Apache Tribe Adapts to a Warmer and Drier Climate

In the face of a changing climate, the Tribe is building capacity—and climate resilience—through forestry management, habitat protection, and an innovative approach to healthy eating.

Monitoring Forest Disturbances Aids Management Decisions

The combined effects of drought, beetle kill, and wildfire are transforming forests in southwestern Colorado. Using satellite data products to monitor the region helps forest caretakers identify vulnerable locations.

Moving Forward Together: Building Tribal Resiliency and Partnerships

The four member tribes of the Upper Snake River Tribes Foundation collaborated on a Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment, resulting in a quantified assessment of their shared concerns and establishment of a common foundation for future adaptation efforts.

North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality

Local governments often lack capacity to implement coastal resilience projects. This department provided voluntary incentives for communities to partner with their local governments in developing and implementing resilience strategies.

A type one heavy air tanker takes off from air command to fight the Hayman fire southwest of Denver.

Partnerships Promote Healthy Forests and Clean Water

Two major fires and subsequent flooding events wreaked havoc on a critical watershed and reservoir that supplies Denver with water. Now, a public-private partnership is working to ensure a clean, reliable water supply.

Healthy coral reef in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands.

Pollution and Coral Health in the Virgin Islands

Coral communities are under pressure from land-based pollutants and sediments. Now, coastal managers now can access an effective tool to correlate human land-use activity with coral reef condition. Resource managers can use this information to increase resilience for corals—and the people who depend on them.

The view south from Spencer Butte in Lane County, Oregon.

Preparing for Sea Level Rise in Estuaries Along the Oregon Coast

For many decades, farmers built low walls or dikes across coastal wetlands in Oregon to extend their farmland. Now, efforts to restore wetlands and prepare for sea level rise require information about where these dikes are and who is responsible for them.

Dry, brown drought-stricken tropical vegetation

Recognizing and Responding to Drought on Pacific Islands

Compared to other extreme events, drought is a relatively quiet disaster. On Pacific Islands, where water supply depends very directly on precipitation, residents are working to recognize signs of drought and communicate them to others so that they can respond quickly.

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