C limate Ready Estuaries Ten Year Progress Report, 2008-2018 ------- Cover photograph of the Piscataqua River, © Daine Doucett, Used with permission. CLIMATE READY ESTUARIES v»EPA EPA 842-R-21-004, September 2021 ------- Ten years of helping coastal communities prepare for and adapt to climate change In 2008 a handful of coastal communities were beginning tograpplewith theimpactsthat climate change would have on their livelihoods, built infrastructure, natural resources, and economic wellbeing. Studies were being published pointing to the importance of anticipating and addressing threats related to climate change in the coastal environment. Prompted to get ahead of the curve, state and local scientists and practitioners sought the EPA's expertise. Climate Ready Estuaries was born to provide the technical and financial assistance that were needed. It was the first federal program that focused exclusively on climate adaptation. It was designed specifically to help local communities understand and anticipate coastal problems. Through the development of practical and risk-based climate adaptation tools and strategies, the EPA sought to show how the climate assessment literature could be used in coastal watershed management. Coasts and estuaries are vital resources. Because we love and depend on these places, over half of the U.S. population lives within 100 miles of a coast, including the shores of estuaries. The pressures on these environments are significant, however, and the impacts to the blue economy considerable. Coasts already face many stressors including: large and growing human populations; degradation of habitat and water quality; high loads of nutrient, pathogen and sediment contaminants that are detrimental to aquatic life and recreation in and on the water; deterioration of fish and wildlife health that have an adverse impact on commercial and subsistence fishing; and natural hazards such as storms and hurricanes—and these are all exacerbated by climate changes. This report describes the accomplishments of Climate Ready Estuaries during the past ten years in working with coastal communities in the National Estuary Program. Overall, the focus during that time was to conduct vulnerability assessments for climate change and begin to address risks. EPA's National Estuary Program is a non-regulatory, place-based program to protect and restore the water quality and ecological integrity of estuaries of national significance. The 28 estuaries are located along the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Pacific coasts and in Puerto Rico. Each National Estuary Program has a study area that includes the estuary and surrounding watershed. A National Estuary Program's priorities are decided together by local, city, state, federal, private and non-profit stakeholders. In 2018, EPA celebrates the achievements of Climate Ready Estuaries and the National Estuary Programs. The National Estuary Programs are important EPA partners and National Estuary Program communities are more prepared now than they were when Climate Ready Estuaries was formed ten years ago. In the future, the goals of the program will continue to be to assess coastal vulnerabilities, develop and implement hazard adaptation strategies, and engage with and educate stakeholders on the importance of addressing coastal challenges. There was and remains a need for the EPA to respond to the needs of our partners and support the blue economy. ------- National Estuary Programs Pacific Puget Sound Partnership (Wash.) Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership (Wash./Ore.) Tillamook Estuaries Partnership (Ore.) San Francisco Estuary Partnership (Calif.) Morro Bay National Estuary Program (Calif.) Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission (Calif.) Gulf of Mexico Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program (Texas) Galveston Bay Estuary Program (Texas) Barataria-Terrebonne NEP (La.) Mobile Bay National Estuary Program (Ala.) Tampa Bay Estuary Program (Fla.) Sarasota Bay Estuary Program (Fla.) Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program (Fla.) Atlantic Casco Bay Estuary Partnership (Maine) Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership (N.H.) Massachusetts Bays Program (Mass.) Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program (Mass.) Narragansett Bay Estuary Program (R.I.) Long Island Sound Study (Conn./N.Y.) Peconic Estuary Program (N.Y.) N.Y.-N.J. Harbor and Estuary Program (N.Y./N.J.) Barnegat Bay Partnership (N.J.) Partnership for the Delaware Estuary (N.J./Pa./Del.) Delaware Center for the Inland Bays (Del.) Maryland Coastal Bays Program (Md.) Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Program (N.C.) Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program (Fla.) San Juan Bay Estuary Program (P.R.) ------- Resources for Environmental Managers Being Prepared for Climate Change family of products Being Prepared for Climate Change: A Workbook for Developing Risk-Based Adaptation Plans (2014) Checklists of Potential Climate Change Risks, 1 ed. (2014) An online companion Risk Based Planning Tool, which includes five videos about workbook steps 1-5 Videos Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment for San Juan Bay, Puerto Rico (2015) http://voutu.be/rdlWakSnvww Preparing for Climate Change in Eastern Long Island, New York (2015) https://voutu.be/Pw--amZacTY Being Prepared for Climate Change (2014) https://voutu.be/Pw--amZacTY Blogs Being Prepared for Climate Change: A Workbook for Developing Risk-Based Adaptation Plans (2016) https://bloa.epa.aov/bloa/2016/08/ei- climate-readv-estuaries/ Helping Communities Plan for Climate Change (2014) https://bloa.epa.aov/bloa/2014/10/hel pina-communities-plan-for-climate- chanae/ Technical Reports Climate Change and Coastal Watersheds: Adaptation to Attain Clean Water Goals and Sustainable Coasts (2012) Vulnerability Assessments in Support of the Climate Ready Estuaries Program: A Novel Approach to using Expert Judgement (2012) • Volume I: Results for the San Francisco Estuary Partnership • Volume II: Results for the Massachusetts Bays National Estuary Program Climate Change Risk Management: CRE Adaptation Projects and the Risk Management Process (2011) Rolling Easements (2011) Synthesis of Adaptation Options for Coastal Areas (2009) Lessons Learned Lessons Learned from the Climate Ready Estuaries Program: Southeastern U.S. Climate Ready Estuaries (2014) Lessons Learned from the Climate Ready Estuaries Program: New England Climate Ready Estuaries (2012) Lessons Learned from the Climate Ready Estuaries Program (2011) Climate Ready Estuaries Progress Reports Ten-Year Progress Report (2019) 2012 Progress Report 2011 Progress Report 2010 Progress Report 2009 Progress Report King Tide Blogs Photography Tips for Citizen Scientists Capturing the 2015 King Tide https://bloa.epa.aov/bloa/2015/10/ph otoaraphv-tips-for-citizen-scientists- capturina-the-2015-kina-tide/ King Tides and Sea Level Rise (2013) https://bloa.epa.aov/bloa/2013/06/kin a-tides-and-sea-level-rise/ King Tides and Sea Level Rise, Part 2 (2013) https://bloa.epa.aov/bloa/2013/06/kin a-tides-and-sea-level-rise-part-2/ King Tides and Sea Level Rise, Part 3 (2013) https://bloa.epa.aov/bloa/2013/07/kin a-tides-and-sea-level-rise-part-3/ A Peek into Our Future (2013) https://bloa.epa.aov/epplocations/20 13/07/a-peek-into-our-future/ "King Tides" for the U.S. State Dept's Our Planet blog (2012) http://ourplanet.infocentral.state.aov/ 2012/09/19/kina-tides/ CLIMATE READY ESTUARIES SEFA www.epa.gov/cre ------- |