In 2001, downtown Houston, Texas, faced an historic 1,000-year flood as a result of Tropical Storm Allison, shutting down the 700-acre Texas Medical Center Complex. While rebuilding the Center to withstand future floods, Texas Medical Center implemented a stormwater management plan that increases green space and improves water absorption through advanced landscaping techniques and permeable paving systems.

After years of hard work by American Rivers and its project partners, the Bloede Dam in Maryland’s Patapsco River was successfully removed in 2018, restoring 52.5 miles of the river’s natural flow and more than 65 miles of native fish spawning habitat. Removing the dam also strengthened community resilience, improved public safety, and facilitated increased sediment transport to marshes and beaches along the Chesapeake Bay.

Muskegon Lake’s shoreline and wetlands were severely degraded from industrial waste disposal, shoreline land use, and stormwater management. The Amoco Fish and Wildlife Habitat Restoration Project restored wetlands and wildlife habitat at a 9-hectare site. A constructed shoal system, the removal of a concrete wall, and a planted embankment restored wetland habitat. 

The City of Bloomington began a creek naturalization project in 2002 to address significant erosion caused by intense storm water pressure and to enhance biodiversity in a popular local park. Through partnerships with local organizations, the City reduced flooding impacts, improved water quality and increased plant and animal species diversity in the improvement area.

A manufacturing company purchased 100 acres of abandoned golf course on floodplain of Fort Collins to develop its new headquarter. To reduce the frequency and severity of flooding, the company reconnected the Cache la Poudre River with its floodplain, removing fill from 31 acres to build up pads for properties.

Camden County, New Jersey frequently experiences combined sewer flooding during intense rain events. Camden SMART Initiative, a partnership of local government, state environmental agency, local universities and local nonprofits, promotes a network of green infrastructure programs and projects throughout the county. Projects like urban greening, rain gardens and stream daylighting were implemented. 

Cape Lookout State Park, located in coastal Oregon, experienced extreme erosion and storm damage to its beach and infrastructure. Instead of a less aesthetic, more expensive, seawall or revetment, managers opted to build a cobble berm backed by an artificial dune to increase coastal protection and enhance the natural shoreline community. 

Planning with extreme weather thresholds catalyzes a $400,000 green infrastructure investment in a historically underserved neighborhood in Las Cruces, New Mexico. City staff partnered with NOAA and nonprofit organizations for a local resilience project that includes a demonstration rainwater harvesting facility and a green infrastructure assessment of the neighborhood.

Due to extreme flooding events and excessive nitrogen levels in the Cedar River Watershed, the City of Cedar Rapids led the Middle Cedar Partnership Project to reduce nutrient runoff and improve soil health. The partnership collaborated with local farmers, landowners, and conservation organizations to implement strategies to reduce nutrient runoff, mitigate flood risk, and improve soil health.

In the mid-1990s, the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, was set to begin development on the Warren Golf Course. The University initially designed the course to have Juday Creek, a historic waterway with declining ecological health, run through it. To protect the creek, community groups worked with Notre Dame researchers to restore it.

The Coonamessett River in Cape Cod has seen declines in fish populations and degradation to aquatic habitat from a history of mill construction and cranberry cultivation. The Town of Falmouth removed one of the dams on the river, restored a bog to wetland conditions, replaced two undersized culverts, and rerouted flows around another dam. 

With a growing push to remove low-head dams due to safety concerns and the potential for ecosystem improvement, Corydon, Indiana was approached by The Nature Conservancy to remove two dams owned by the Town. The dams blocked potential habitat for the endangered hellbender salamander.

County of Barnstable, Massachusetts encourages municipalities to take actions that lower flood risks, which can reduce flood insurance premiums by earning credits through the Community Rating System (CRS). In one project, 26 mosquito-control workers cleaned debris out of the 1,500 miles of ditches, pipers, and other conduits that channeled stormwater away from buildings and roads.

Cuenca los Ojos (CLO) is a non-profit that preserves land and restores watersheds in the Sky Island ecoregion of the U.S. and Mexico. Sky Island contains high biodiversity, and CLO’s preserved and restored lands act as wildlife corridors and work to improve watershed health.  

The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water), in an effort to reduce combined sewer overflows (CSOs), is implementing green stormwater infrastructure projects to reduce runoff. These projects include rain barrels, grassed swales, cisterns infiltration trenches, permeable pavements, increased tree cover, and rooftop greening. 

In Midland, Michigan a former ash pond for a coal-fired powerplant is located within the floodplain of the Tittabawssee River. Instead of the traditional (and expensive) cap and long-term maintenance plan, Dow's corporate nature team removed the ash and restored the area to a conservation wetland.  

The Nature Conservancy aimed to restore 7,100 acres of farmland in Emiquon into a functional floodplain that sustains native species. In 2007, 180,000 trees, 8,000 pounds of seed, and 90,000 upland shrubs and trees have been planted in 1,400 acres of Emiquon. Non-native fish have been removed and native fish have been introduced into these new waters.

Clear Lake City, TX has a history of intense flooding from hurricanes and other storm events. Exploration Green is a project to transform a former 200-acre golf course into a public park and flood-control area. The park will have 5 detention basins to store floodwater during storm events. 

Following a devastating 2010 wildfire and post-fire flood outside of Flagstaff, city residents approved a $10 million bond to support forest restoration work to reduce the risk of wildfire and post-fire flooding. This bond created the Flagstaff Watershed Protection Project (FWPP), which implements restoration projects like thinning and fuel reduction.  

The Yakima River Basin in Washington State was once home to thriving salmonid populations, that are important cultural and economic species to Tribal Nations in the basin. Salmonid populations have declined due to habitat degradation and fish passage barriers. To address these issues, the Bureau of Reclamation created the Schaake Habitat Improvement Project.