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.

An aerial view of Surfers' Point taken February 4, 2014

Restoring Surfers' Point: Partnership's Persistence Pays Off

Coastal erosion has repeatedly damaged bike paths and parking lots near Ventura, California. It took local groups with varying viewpoints more than a decade to agree upon a strategy, but the first phase of their solution is now complete.

Retrofitting a Children's Hospital with a Hurricane-Resistant Shell

After conducting an assessment that showed their building’s vulnerability to wind damage, the Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami looked for a way to improve safety for patients and staff.

Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council

To help communities identify shoreline adaptation projects, the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council proactively formed partnerships with stakeholders from 21 coastal municipalities. This relationship-building yielded understanding of local priorities and buy-in for potential projects.

Saving Tidal Marshes in the San Francisco Bay

As sea level rises, wetlands and marshes must move inland, or drown. The Sonoma Land Trust is using innovative strategies to restore and enhance marshlands and the ecosystems they support.

Seasonal Climate Forecast Serves as a Call to Action

Faced with an increased chance for heavy precipitation and flooding, an emergency manager in Oregon spread the word, encouraging groups to be prepared.

A Black-Necked Stilt meanders in a shallow salt marsh at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve near Huntington Beach, California.

Sediment Strategy Seeks to Save Salt Marsh Species

One of Southern California’s few remaining tidal marshes—and the habitat it provides for marine life and endangered birds—is threatened by sea level rise. A collaborative effort is underway to help these wetlands stay above water.

Scenic view through Spanish moss-covered trees in a wetland area of coastal South Carolina

Setting Conservation Priorities for Preserving Wildlife Habitat

At South Carolina's Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge, rising seas are threatening the habitats of wetland species. A team modeled how marshes in the refuge are likely to migrate in response to sea level rise, and set targets for conserving additional land for habitats.

Gulfport, MS, August 20, 2010. The new pier was completed with construction funds provided by FEMA to help rebuild the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina.

Shopping Mall Exhibit Raises Awareness of Sea Level Rise

Residents along the U.S. Gulf Coast are familiar with the flooding hazards associated with storms, yet many are unaware of the risk of sea level rise. Shoppers at a local mall had a chance to explore the potential impacts of sea level rise on their communities.

$Ice wedges thaw along fracture lines of a tundra surface and water accumulates in small thaw lakes.$

ShoreZone: A Tool for Coastal Resilience

Stunning photographs of Alaska's coasts aid planners, responders, and communities in ways that promote resilience.

Show Don't Tell: Visualizing Sea Level Rise to Set Planning Priorities

City officials in Tybee Island, Georgia, recognized sea level rise as a growing problem for their community. Visualizations from a sea level rise viewer helped them raise awareness of the city's vulnerabilities and led to development of Georgia’s first sea level rise plan.

MWRD Stickney Water Reclamation Plant in Chicago, Illinois.

Small Water Utility Builds Flood Resilience

Based on their locations, many water and wastewater utilities face an inherent risk of flooding. Here’s how a small drinking water utility recognized its risk and took steps to reduce it.

Man strolls along the shoreline of a National Wildlife Refuge scattered with trees that have been effected by saltwater intrusion.

South Carolina’s Lowcountry Prepares for Changing Global Conditions

The coastal “Lowcountry” region of South Carolina faces unique vulnerabilities to climate change. Researchers engaged with this social and ecological community to determine how strong community resilience can promote adaptive capacity in light of a rapidly changing world.

Starting the Climate Conversation: Using Scenario Planning to Promote Resilience in Beef Production

Beef producers shared their collective experiences with past weather, and then considered the future. This engagement strategy increased producers' value for incorporating climate into their management strategies.

State Highway Administration Catalogs Vulnerabilities

Through the innovative use of a collection of tools, Maryland has begun identifying which of its roads and bridges are vulnerable to climate-related events.

Sunset behind the Pierhead Lighthouse in St. Joseph, Michigan

Staying Even with Mother Nature

On the southeastern shore of Lake Michigan, the city of St. Joseph is vulnerable to flooding from storm surges. Residents and city officials recognized the need to build resilience and worked together to enact a "no-build" ordinance to help minimize coastal erosion and retain beach access.

Streamlining Transportation Solutions Along The California Coast

Learn how a unique partnership between the California Coastal Commission and California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) streamlines transportation projects with positive environmental features.

Students Design Low-Impact Landscape to Reduce Stormwater Runoff

High school students in Kentucky became proficient in using the EPA's Stormwater Calculator. When their county planned a new library, they put their skills to work.

Students Promote Flood Resilience and Reduce Insurance Costs

Middle school students are working to help residents recognize and reduce flood risk in their coastal Georgia city. Their efforts are also earning the community credits to lower their costs for flood insurance.

Homeland of the Suquamish Tribe taken from Port Madison Bay

Suquamish Build Resilience to Ocean Acidification Through Education

Changing ocean chemistry could have a disastrous impact on shellfish and fisheries in Puget Sound. The Suquamish Tribe is working with partners to inform the public about this problem while they elicit support for research and monitoring the issue.

Fond du Lac Resource Management and Tribal Court Building

The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Combine Mitigation with Capacity Building

This Minnesota tribal community—which subscribes to the Seven Generations philosophy—is taking action to reduce its contributions to greenhouse gas emissions while simultaneously building community capacity to adapt.

Controlled burn in the Klamath watershed

The Karuk’s Innate Relationship with Fire: Adapting to Climate Change on the Klamath

Members of the Karuk Tribe in northern California maintain that the age-old tradition of prescribed burning holds the answer to climate adaptation planning in the Klamath River range.

Aerial photo of northern Beaufort County’s low-lying sea islands.

The Lowcountry Lowdown on Sea Level Rise

Recognizing increasing risks from sea level rise, leaders in Beaufort County, South Carolina, used a participatory process to help anticipate outcomes and make plans to build their resilience.

The Nature Conservancy — Wetlands Restoration for Ecosystem and Community Resilience in He’eia O’ahu

To restore function in a degraded but historically, culturally, and ecologically important watershed on O‘ahu’s Eastern Coast, The Nature Conservancy worked closely with local partners and used an adaptive management approach to ensure successful wetland restoration.

Pago Pago Harbor, American Samoa with fuel tanks in foreground.

The Pacific Islands Climate Storybook

To empower community climate adaptation in the Pacific Islands, a multi-island coalition expanded upon a 2015 comprehensive template for writing climate stories and the collection of case studies. The new Storybook is a roadmap to predict, prepare, and adapt, to a changing climate.

Roadway with bridge rising up over ocean water

The Road to Resilience

Frequent and severe inland flooding is an increasing problem for North Carolina's transportation system. A multi-agency team is working to understand the impacts of these floods—and to consider possible solutions.

Lone Tree Point on the Swinomish Reservation, La Conner, Washington

The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community Prepares for Climate Change Impacts

From changes in traditional foods to concerns of displacement from rising seas, this coastal community in the Pacific Northwest is assessing potential impacts to make decisions for their future.

The Water Institute of the Gulf — Port Fourchon: Supporting Resiliency on an Evolving Coast

To ensure community support for nature-based reuse of dredged material in Port Fourchon, the Water Institute of the Gulf developed a robust outreach and engagement plan and worked with public and private partners to gather stakeholder input and potential project designs and sites.

Bridge and water in foreground, city skyline in background

Throw Away Your Crystal Ball: A Stress Testing Approach to Infrastructure Planning Under Climate Change Uncertainty

Civil Engineers in the City of Portland, Oregon relate how they used data and customized design storms to stress-test the city's stormwater sewer system.

A rock groyne at Atlantic Beach, New York.

Training Sessions Build Capacity for Recovery and Planning

Damage from Hurricane Sandy emphasized the need for East Coast coastal communities to prepare for future hazards and the impacts of climate change. Training sessions helped decision makers in these communities learn about and use data and tools to inform their planning efforts.

Cloudy sky over ocean and flat beach environment

Tribal Community Partners with Researchers to Monitor Food and Climate

Residents of a rural Alaska village are studying their environment to understand and protect their food. Their research partnership hires and trains students and local residents to contribute to high-quality research...and builds the capacity of the local workforce.