The Maidford River Saltmarsh Restoration Project in the Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge in Rhode Island spans 11 acres of degraded saltmarsh. The marsh is degraded by storm surges, development, redirection of riverine input, and sea-level rise. This project restored marsh habitat and elevation through thin-layer placement of dredged material. 

The Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program and Southwest Florida Regional Planning Commission partnered to assess historic and current range of salt marshes in the region, as well as dentify their vulnerability to changing climate conditions. This helps local governments identify priority conservation areas to preserve salt marshes.  

The EPA, FEMA, and Rebuild Iowa partnered to plan economic growth and redevelopment of the Iowa City riverfront following the devastation of the 2008 Iowa floods. The primarily goal of the partnership was to add green infrastructure and add open space along the riverfront to reduce future flooding.

The San Juan Bay Estuary Program (SJBEP) conducted a risk determination and vulnerability assessment for the San Juan Bay estuary. They also engaged the communities that live and work around the bay through workshops and on-site discussions. The estuary program is now implementing measures to improve the resiliency of coastal wetlands and coral reefs. 

Maryland is continually losing islands, acres of shoreline, and critical coastal wetlands to sea-level rise, storms, and inundation. Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources and Department of the Environment analyzed future climate conditions using the Sea Level Affecting Marshes Model (SLAMM), and prioritized highly threatened coastal areas for conservation and restoration.

In 2017, Hurricanes Irma and Maria caused extensive damage to Puerto Rico’s already threatened dune system. After data collection and analysis steps, the team at Vida Marine chose high priority sites to implement restoration projects. These methods include vegetation plantings, new boardwalks to redirect foot traffic, public signage, and sand-trapping devices.  

After Hurricanes Irma and Maria, over 11% of Puerto Rico’s coral reefs were damaged. The Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, along with NOAA, FEMA and other local partners assessed damages and conducted emergency reattachment of corals, resulting in approximately 16,000 corals over 63 sites in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. 

The North Carolina Coastal Federation created the state’s first living shoreline at a freshwater, high-energy site. This living shoreline replaced a failing bulkhead, and provided the state with important information on freshwater living shorelines, sources of erosion, and stormwater management practices. The project owes some of its success to being small, non-controversial, and well-designed.  

A partnership between the California Coastal Commission and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is working to improve understanding of transportation critical infrastructure vulnerabilities to sea level rise and to adapt the transportation system for greater resilience to those changing conditions over the next century. 

This project is testing the effectiveness of dune restoration as a tactic for combatting sea-level rise and erosion in Southern California. Sand dunes were constructed from locally dredged material and planted with native vegetation. It is projected that this project will successfully protect the shoreline from flooding with no additional sand maintenance until 2050.