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HomeAboutNOS Fiscal Year 2014 Annual Report

# Office for Coastal Management

## NOS Fiscal Year 2014 Annual Report

## Sea-level Rise Mapping Tool Wins Presidential GreenGov Award 

            -  **Supports NOS priority**: coastal intelligence, coastal resilience 

In FY 14, in response to post-tropical cyclone Sandy, a team of federal  policy and science experts led by NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management created an interactive  sea-level rise mapping and calculator tool to help people identify and prepare  for flooding related to rising sea levels. Recognizing the need to inform  Sandy-related rebuilding decisions, the tool was ready in a remarkably short  time. The team’s efforts were recognized with the 2013 Presidential GreenGov  Awards’  “Climate Champion” designation. 

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## NOAA Helps Coastal States Prepare for Climate Change

            -  **Supports NOS priority**: coastal resilience 

While climate change is  a worldwide event, preparation for it is site-specific. NOAA’s Office  for Coastal Management supports coastal management programs seeking adaptation measures  that make the most sense for their particular situations. Examples include: **Delaware**, which signed an  executive order requiring the incorporation of sea-level rise data when constructing state-funded projects, and the protection of green infrastructure that helps contain flood waters; **Rhode Island**, which created a guide to help homeowners understand climate change, erosion, and other natural and regulatory processes that may impact their property; **Maryland**, which issued a report with coastal construction and design guidelines to address the vulnerability of approximately 1,000 state-owned facilities in coastal areas; and **Climate adaptation workshops** held in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Maine, which helped local leaders prepare for climate change challenges. 

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## ‘Coastal Flood Exposure Mapper’ Covers Sandy Impact Areas

            -  **Supports NOS priority**: coastal intelligence, coastal resilience 

In FY 14, in response to post-tropical cyclone Sandy, NOAA’s Office  for Coastal Management developed a new online tool called the Coastal Flood Exposure Mapper that gives coastal New  York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania easy access to community-level  flood information. The tool displays county-level data about shallow coastal  flooding, flood zones, storm surge, sea level rise, and a composite view of flood  hazards. An added bonus is the ability to include important data such as population  centers, infrastructure, and evacuation routes. Maps can be downloaded or  shared online. In addition to the Mapper helping make communities safer, it  also helps them take actions to raise their scores in the National  Flood Insurance Program’s community rating program. Plans are under way to expand the reach  of the tool to include the rest of the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico.

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## Carbon Credits for Wetlands Restoration Projects

            -  **Supports NOS priority**: coastal resilience 

Restore  America’s Estuaries, a NOAA Office for Coastal Management partner, submitted the first  detailed methodology for quantifying real  greenhouse-gas emissions for tidal wetlands and seagrass restoration. This  groundbreaking work opens the door for tidal wetland and seagrass restoration  projects that meet certain eligibility conditions to calculate net greenhouse  gas benefits and generate carbon credits. Governments, industries,  and private individuals can use carbon credits to offset damaging carbon  emissions that they are generating. The work was made possible with  funds from the National Estuarine Research Reserve Science Collaborative and NOAA’s Habitat Conservation and Restoration  Center. 

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## NOAA Land Cover Atlas Documents Trends and Current Conditions 

            -  **Supports NOS priority**: coastal intelligence 

Understanding how land  cover is changing is an important component of successful coastal management. While  coastal communities have used NOAA’s land cover data for this purpose for more  than 20 years, NOAA’s Land Cover Atlas, updated by the Office  for Coastal Management in FY 14, makes it even easier for communities to access and  understand the data. A fact that the updated Atlas uncovered is that 8.2  percent of the nation’s coastal and Great Lakes regions experienced land cover  or land use changes from 1996 to 2011. That’s a total of 64,975 square miles—an area larger than the state of Wisconsin. Much of this change is related to  new development. In FY 14, land cover data helped officials assess sea level rise hazards in Florida’s Miami-Dade  County, determine high-risk areas for stormwater runoff in southern California,  and find the best habitat restoration sites in two Great  Lakes watersheds. 

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## Mid-Atlantic Reserves Promote Regional Collaboration on Sustainable Shorelines 

            -  **Supports NOS priority**: coastal resilience 

In the wake of events like  post-tropical cyclone Sandy in October 2012, some coastal communities are  showing a greater interest in engineered shorelines. NOAA’s National  Estuarine Research Reserves in the Mid-Atlantic encouraged regional dialogue on the issue and  began to identify ways to leverage existing resources for this purpose.  Reserves in New York, New Jersey, and Delaware led workshops on the topic,  where participants explored ways to implement ecologically enhanced shoreline  projects and collaborated on the development of regional tools, resources, and  guidance. 

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## Professional Training Supports Green Infrastructure and Coastal Resilience

            -  **Supports NOS priority**: coastal resilience 

Building the capacity of  coastal officials is the key to effective coastal management decisions. In FY 14,  NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management updated several of its professional courses to respond to the changing  needs of this community. An introduction to green infrastructure provides  instruction regarding the use of natural areas to make communities less  flood-prone. A project design and evaluation course is popular among coastal  restoration practitioners, and a helpful video series focuses on implementing  economic concepts for coastal ecosystem services.

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## Maui Coral Reef Campaign Receives ‘People Who Made a Difference’ Award 

            -  **Supports NOS priority**: place-based conservation 

*The Maui News*, the largest newspaper  on Maui, Hawaii, honored a coral-reef protection and conservation campaign by  the organization West Maui Kumuwai with a “2013 People Who  Made a Difference” award. The campaign is part of a partnership between NOAA’s Office  for Coastal Management and SeaWeb to save coral reefs,  starting in Maui residents’ backyards. Through stories about community members  taking action to help corals, the campaign inspired others to get involved. At  the kick-off event, 50 volunteers planted more than 1,000 plants to reduce soil  runoff. Pledge programs and events taught residents about rain gardens and  proper fertilizer use. The campaign got a number of Maui retailers to post  labels on fertilizers and pesticides that are less harmful to ocean wildlife.  Landscaping companies on Maui also joined the effort by committing to  ocean-friendly practices. 

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## Social Coast Forum 2014: Exploring the Values that Shape Coastal Policy 

            -  **Supports NOS priority**: coastal intelligence, coastal resilience 

The Social Coast Forum, developed by NOAA’s Office  for Coastal Management, fills a unique niche by bringing together coastal practitioners  and social scientists to advance coastal management goals. Participants shared  information and lessons learned based on their social science and coastal  management experiences. The forum focused on the ways that values and beliefs  shape coastal policy and decision-making. Session topics included community  benefits of green infrastructure, communication  strategies and frameworks for adaptation, public perception of climate change,  informing fisheries management with social science, and understanding  stakeholder motives. More than 100 presentations, 32 roundtable demonstrations  and discussions, and 14 entries in the visual gallery made the 2014 forum even  more popular than the first one, held in 2012.

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## Mobile App Offers Real-time Data from National Estuarine Research Reserves 

            -  **Supports NOS priority**: place-based conservation 

Real-time weather and  water quality data are now as close as one’s mobile device. The data originate  from NOAA’s National Estuarine Research Reserves, a federal-state  partnership that protects 28 designated reserve sites and provides natural  areas for scientific research. The SWMP Mobile app provides useful data through any smartphone or  tablet. Users can locate monitoring stations, view station locations on Google maps,  view near real-time data, and create quick charts. The app also complements the  reserves’ other data access resources. The National Estuarine  Research Reserve System Centralized Data Management Office, which developed the  app, is supported through a cooperative agreement between NOAA's Office  for Coastal Management and the University of South Carolina. 

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###### **OCM** Top Ten:

            - **Sea Level Rise Mapping Tool Wins Presidential GreenGov Award
            - ** NOAA Helps Coastal States Prepare for Climate Change
            - ** ‘Coastal Flood Exposure Mapper’ Covers Sandy Impact Areas 
            - ** Carbon Credits for Wetlands Restoration Projects
            - ** NOAA Land Cover Atlas Documents Trends and Current Conditions
            - ** Mid-Atlantic Reserves Promote Regional Collaboration on Sustainable Shorelines 
            - ** Professional Training Supports Green Infrastructure and Coastal Resilience
            - ** Maui Coral Reef Campaign Receives ‘People Who Made a Difference’ Award 
            - ** Social Coast Forum 2014: Exploring the Values that Shape Coastal Policy 
            - ** Mobile App Offers Real-Time Data from National Estuarine Research Reserves

###### **NOS Accomplishments**

          -  Fiscal Year 2014 Highlights
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          -  Coastal Intelligence Priority
          -  Place-Based Conservation Priority
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