Resources

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.

The Ohio Coastal Atlas (OCA) Map Viewer displays geospatial information about Lake Erie and its watershed to support coastal decision-makers, land management professionals, engineers, educators, interest groups, and the general public. Many of the data layers are also highlighted in the Ohio Coastal Atlas Second Edition.

Investing in habitat restoration and ecosystem resiliency projects provides sustainable and lasting benefits that reduce risks posed to coastal communities from extreme weather events, changing environmental conditions, and known or potential climate change impacts. The Coastal Ecosystem Resiliency Grants Program is intended to build the resilience of coastal ecosystems and communities in the U.S. This grant program funds projects that develop healthy and sustainable coastal ecosystems through on-the-ground habitat restoration and conservation.

The Regional Coastal Resilience Grants program supports regional approaches to activities that build resilience of coastal regions, communities, and economic sectors to the negative impacts from extreme weather events, climate hazards, and changing ocean conditions.

The Coastal Wetland and Tributary Decision Support Tool for the Duck-Pensaukee is an interactive, online map designed to help conservationists prioritize sites in the Duck-Pensaukee Watershed for land protection and restoration projects. The Duck-Pensaukee Watershed is a sub-watershed of Green Bay and faces serious conservation challenges. These challenges include the loss of coastal wetlands, which clean polluted water, intercept waste, protect our shorelines from erosion, provide food and shelter for migratory birds, and serve as nurseries for fish and other aquatic life.

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

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 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.

CoastRanger MS has been designed to explain the consequences that different management approaches have on coastal processes, natural environments and flood and coastal erosion risk. The software highlights the range of interests that need to be balanced on the coast and demonstrates the difficult decisions that have to be made in some areas. CoastRanger MS simulates typical real world scenarios and provides information on management approaches, defense types, coastal behaviour and legislation.