resources

The Michigan Coastal Zone Management (CZM) Program provides grant funds to coastal communities and partners to assist in the development of vibrant and resilient coastal communities through the protection and restoration of sensitive coastal resources and biologically diverse ecosystems.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Wetland Program Development Grants (WPDGs) assist in the building of programs to protect, manage and restore wetlands. WPDGs provide eligible applicants an opportunity to conduct projects that promote the coordination and acceleration of research, investigations, experiments, training, demonstrations, surveys and studies relating to the causes, effects, extent, prevention, reduction and elimination of water pollution.

WEMo (Wave Exposure Model) is a simple hydrodynamic model that calculates the wind wave exposure of a site (Murphey and Fonseca 1995, Fonseca and Bell 1998). WEMo helps coastal managers and ecologists with tasks of estimate wave parameters in coastal and estuarine environments since hydrodynamic factors can profoundly impact the environment in coastal areas. This involves estimating the wave energy reaching the shoreline taking into account the effects of wind, local topography and bottom.

The Lake Level Viewer is an interactive online visualization mapping tool that allows users to visualize lake level changes in the Great Lakes that range from six feet above to six feet below historical long-term average water levels, as well as potential shoreline and coastal impacts. This tool is intended to help communities plan for and adapt to climate change and the accompanying changes in lake water levels.

The FEMA Flood Map Service Center (MSC) is the official public source for flood hazard information produced in support of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Users can use the MSC to find their official flood map, access a range of other flood hazard products, and take advantage of tools for better understanding flood risk.

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists are focusing on restoring natural water flow and ecological processes between coastal wetlands in the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge (Ohio) and adjacent to Lake Erie to improve fish and wildlife habitat. Thus far, this pilot project has resulted in a model that can be used to estimate total phosphorus and total sediment loads to a reconnected wetland using high frequency turbidity and discharge measurements.

The Fund for Lake Michigan's grant making is focused on projects in southeastern Wisconsin that will:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) is developing e-Estuary, a decision-support system for coastal management. E-Estuary has three elements: an estuarine geo-referenced relational database, associated estuarine and watershed GIS coverages, and tools to support decision-making. A population of 300 estuaries with associated watersheds at the HUC-10 scale (16-100 ha) or larger within the conterminous U.S. has been identified for characterization of estuarine geomorphology, tidal and hydrologic regime, and land-use/land-cover of associated watersheds.

With a focus on the major waterways of the Chicago and Calumet region, NFWF's Chi-Cal River Fund awards grants to projects that reduce stormwater runoff with green infrastructure, enhance fish and wildlife habitat, and improve public-use opportunities.