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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Image of drummers in a Salmon procession

Tulalip Tribes: Saving Their Sacred Salmon

People of the Salmon collaborate with farmers to ensure survival of their sacred fish.

Santa Ana winds carried a fire across Camp Pendleton's Las Pulgas area on September 28, 2005. The brush fire consumed 1,250 acres of the base's open land.

Watching for Wind: An Effort to Get the Upper Hand on Wildfire

After Santa Ana winds contributed to devastating wildfires in 2007, San Diego Gas & Electric worked with partners to monitor threats posed by the wind.