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.

Alert System Helps Strawberry Growers Reduce Costs

In Florida's humid climate, strawberry growers are in a constant battle with two kinds of fruit rot. Using a decision support system, they can save money by spraying fields only when the plant diseases are a threat.

Corn plants growing up through soybean stubble

Better Soil, Better Climate

The soil health management system an Ohio farmer practices increases crop productivity, reduces costs for fertilizer and pesticides, and sequesters carbon in the soil. Both locally and globally, he encourages other farmers to adopt his methods.

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

Boise's Climate Action Roadmap

Boulder County Climate Change Preparedness Plan

Cover Crop Diversity Working Toward Improving Soil Health in North Dakota

Browser-Based Tools Show Current and Historical Crop Cover and Health

To manage their businesses successfully, farmers and food production companies need to know what crops are in the ground and how well they are growing. A pair of easy-to-use online mapping tools provides this information for growing seasons in the past and present.

City of Santa Cruz, CA Climate Action Plan

Climate Change and Agriculture in the United States: Effects and Adaptation

Climate Change in Port Heiden, AK

Climate Outlooks Increase Farmer's Odds for Success

From weeks-long dry spells to extreme precipitation events, farmers face significant challenges in bringing crops to market. Here’s how one grower uses seasonal climate forecasts to increase his chances for success.

Coastal Resilience - Georgia

Crop Insurance Smooths Income Fluctuations for Ranchers and Forage Farmers

Raising livestock on grasses or hay depends on receiving the right amount of rain at the right time of year. When a growing season is dry, crop insurance can make the difference between ranchers’ financial success and failure.

Self-service collard patch near Carthage, North Carolina

Developing an Early Warning System to Prevent Heat Illness

Residents of the Carolinas are familiar with hot summers, but in some areas excessive heat events bring a higher risk for heat-related illness—and even death. A new tool can help local communities get ahead of heat events so they can reduce risk for their residents.

Developing the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Hazard Mitigation Plan

The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community developed their hazard mitigation plan with guidance from a framework for integrating Indigenous and traditional knowledge and practices into climate adaptation planning.

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.

Drought Resiliency Planning Prepares Stakeholders for New Conditions

A national project inspired stakeholders in a rural area to document changing conditions and make a plan for drought. The effort left the area better prepared to address future changes.

A water reservoir that is mostly dry due to drought.

Drought Response and Recovery Project for Water Utilities in Tuolumne Utilities District, CA

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s storymap contains case studies and videos that describe the experiences of small and medium-sized drinking water utilities that successfully responded to drought. Explore the story of Tuolumne Utilities District, CA.

Early Warning Information Increases Options for Drought Mitigation

In the growing season, farmers and ranchers keep a watchful eye for any sign of drought. Early warning information can increase their range of options for dealing with the lack of water.

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.

Iñupiat Work to Preserve Food and Traditions on Alaska's North Slope

Residents of North Slope Borough, Alaska, look to solar-powered ice cellars and other strategies to preserve their traditional whaling lifestyle.

LA SAFE Regional Adaptation Strategy

Irrigation canal and valve outside Phoenix, Arizona.

Managing Water for Irrigated Agriculture in the Central Arizona Desert

In the Arizona desert, farmers depend on an ample supply of irrigation to grow their crops. As climate changes, irrigation managers face a host of issues to keep the water flowing.

Missoula, MT Regional Adaptation Strategy

Motivating the Agricultural Community to Build Climate Resilience

Climate change adaptation isn’t always welcome as a topic of conversation, even among those who could benefit from it. A recent study hints at a possible path forward.

Damaged road, people pushing a police car, and a flooded urban scene from above

NC Climate Risk Assessment and Resilience Plan

Okanagan, British Columbia: Regional Adaptation Strategy

Our Spirits Remain Tied to This Land

The Puyallup Tribe conducted a climate change impact assessment for their ancestral lands along the Puyallup River and the coasts of Puget Sound—and improved tribal and regional adaptive capacity.

Phoenix, AZ Climate Action Plan

Precise Soil, Climate, and Weather Data Help Dairy Optimize Water Use

For irrigated crops, knowing when and how much water to apply has long been a matter of experience and guesswork. In a changing climate, new technology can reduce this uncertainty, enabling farmers to make every drop of water count.

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.

Photo of young men trying to mitigate erosion near Kivalina, Alaska

Relocating Kivalina

Rising seas and coastal erosion are eating away at the barrier island on which the Alaska Native Village of Kivalina rests. Residents and others are making concerted efforts to move the community to safety.

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.

Statewide Summary Report: California's Fourth Climate Change Assessment

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.

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.

Tompkins County, NY Resiliency and Recovery Plan

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.

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