Equipment Repair and Replacement—Coral Reef Monitoring Equipment in Puerto Rico

By Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Recovery Activities

The U.S. Coral Reef Task Force had ongoing priority studies to guide watershed and coral reef restoration to reduce coastal hazards and increase the resiliency of coastal communities in Puerto Rico. Hurricane Maria damaged or destroyed sensors and associated hardware related to this work.

Highlights:

USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center has repaired, replaced, and hardened oceanographic and sediment sampling sensors that were damaged or destroyed by Hurricanes Maria and Irma.
USGS has completed an analysis of storm hazards to coral reef-lined coastal communities with increased vulnerability following the hurricanes.
This type of information has been requested by, and directly feeds into FEMA Benefit-Cost-Analysis (BCA) calculator at a resolution necessary to meet the needs defined in OMB's Circular A-94 and the Stafford Act for prioritizing and funding restoration and engineering efforts to reduce coastal hazards and increase the resiliency of coastal communities.