The National Estuary Program: At the Forefront of Climate Change Adaptation, Hazard Mitigation, and Resilience
The National Estuary Program: At the Forefront of Climate Change Adaptation, Hazard Mitigation, and Resilience describes the NEP’s efforts to address climate change impacts in their watersheds, working in partnership with federal, state, and local entities. The NEPs implement a wide-ranging portfolio of climate adaptation, hazard mitigation, and resiliency projects organized into six categories for this paper: 1) Assessment and Planning, 2) Restoration, 3) Water Infrastructure/Green Infrastructure/Stormwater/Nonpoint Sources, 4) Monitoring and Research, 5) Outreach, and 6) Environmental Justice/Equity. NEP actions produce multiple benefits, and many projects address more than one of the listed categories. The document specifically focuses on more than 145 NEP projects active in the past four years, between fiscal years 2017-2020 (October 1, 2016 – September 30, 2020). The project counts in this document provide a minimum estimate of the NEP’s activities, as there may be other relevant projects that were not reported.