Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock () or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
A team of collaborators, including USGS, released a new report that outlines how coastal communities can reduce risks from flooding and erosion by restoring coral reefs.
The report, Coral Reef Restoration for Risk Reduction (CR4): A Guide to Project Design and Proposal Development, was produced by scientists from the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Coral reefs protect coastlines by reducing flooding and erosion, acting as living breakwaters that dissipate wave energy. Each year, reefs protect hundreds of millions of dollars in coastal infrastructure and economic activity in the United States.
“Our prior research has quantified the social and economic consequences that result from storm damage to reefs, which serve as natural infrastructure,” said Mike Beck, Director of the UCSC Center for Coastal Climate Resilience and a coauthor of the report. “Rigorously valuing reef restoration is a critical component to coastal resilience. By calculating the dollars-and-lives value of reefs, we can, for instance, complete FEMA's benefit-cost analysis and access the billions of dollars in federal funding available for hazard mitigation and disaster recovery projects.”
Agencies including the Department of Defense, FEMA, and USACE are charged with mitigating risks from natural hazards. All are increasingly looking to the role of natural infrastructure in reducing those risks. Coral reef restoration for risk reduction (CR4) projects are designed to reduce flood or erosion risks by rehabilitating, recovering, and restoring reefs.
The report provides organizations and agencies clear guidance on how to create, design, and implement a CR4 project. It covers critical elements such as project scoping, identification of the project team, selection of site(s), benefit-cost analysis, identification of regulatory requirements, and potential funding opportunities.
“One important aspect of this work is that coral reefs provide disproportionate protection to minority, low-income, and other at-risk communities,” said Curt Storlazzi, USGS Research Geologist and a coauthor of the report. “By restoring coral reefs with hazard mitigation in mind, we can increase the protection to these usually disadvantaged populations.”
El aumento de riesgos por inundaciones a lo largo de nuestras costas está causado por el cambio climático, el desarrollo urbano y la pérdida de hábitat.
El aumento de riesgos por inundaciones a lo largo de nuestras costas está causado por el cambio climático, el desarrollo urbano y la pérdida de hábitat.
Coral reefs act like submerged breakwaters by breaking waves and dissipating their energy offshore before they flood coastal properties and communities. This is an enormously valuable function: In 2017, Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria alone caused over \$265 billion in damage across the nation.
Coral reefs act like submerged breakwaters by breaking waves and dissipating their energy offshore before they flood coastal properties and communities. This is an enormously valuable function: In 2017, Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria alone caused over \$265 billion in damage across the nation.
El aumento de riesgos por inundaciones a lo largo de nuestras costas está causado por el cambio climático, el desarrollo urbano y la pérdida de hábitat.
El aumento de riesgos por inundaciones a lo largo de nuestras costas está causado por el cambio climático, el desarrollo urbano y la pérdida de hábitat.
Coral reefs act like submerged breakwaters by breaking waves and dissipating their energy offshore before they flood coastal properties and communities. This is an enormously valuable function: In 2017, Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria alone caused over \$265 billion in damage across the nation.
Coral reefs act like submerged breakwaters by breaking waves and dissipating their energy offshore before they flood coastal properties and communities. This is an enormously valuable function: In 2017, Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria alone caused over \$265 billion in damage across the nation.