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.

Photo of pararescueman Staff Sgt. Lopaka Mounts receiving a hug from a resident after Hurricane Ike, Sept. 13, 2008.

A Climate for Resilience

The City of Houston faces an array of climate vulnerabilities: flooding, drought, tropical cyclones, and extreme heat can all affect the city's population and industries. Government and non-profit agencies in the region combined their resources in a pilot project to plan for climate resilience.

A Community Works Together to Reduce Damages from Flooding

The Village of Walton, New York worked with their Soil and Water Conservation District to engage community members in decisions about flooding in their community. The Village eventually took action to restore portions of the floodplain to reduce flooding.

The dock at China Champ, San Rafael, California

A Road-Flooding Fix for a California State Park

Flooding from rain and extreme high tides often leaves the road to San Francisco's China Camp State Park inaccessible. So a diverse group of stakeholders, with support from NOAA’s Science Collaborative team, proposed raising the road.

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.

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.

Mandeville, Louisiana: A City that Stays Afloat by Promoting Elevations

The City of Mandeville, located in St. Tammany Parish, decided to commit to helping residents escape troublesome flood waters. Finally tiring of the constant issue of a repeated damage-repair cycle, city officials decided to act by adopting high regulatory standards for the elevation of homes and businesses.

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.

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.

Promoting Ecotourism to Conserve a Watershed in Virginia

Realizing the Lower Chickahominy Watershed would one day be at risk of development for economic gain, the coastal planner with the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program decided to be proactive in exploring ideas for conserving this resource.

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.

UVM Students Offer Real-World Climate Recommendations to Vermont Town

The town of Underhill, Vermont, is considering climate-change recommendations developed and presented by some intrepid University of Vermont (UVM) students.

Green Bay's CityDeck with the Peacemaker tall ship docked at the Cherry Street boat landing.

Visualizing Flooding in Green Bay

Digital tools give users a way to visualize lakes at various water levels. When property owners see the potential for flooding and other coastal hazards, they can be inspired to plan ahead for resilience.