The Coastal States Organization represents the nation’s Coastal States, Territories, and Commonwealths on ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resource issues.

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The New Hampshire Resilient Tidal Crossings project received $2.9 million to upgrade priority tidal culverts on state roads in the towns of Rye and Stratham, New Hampshire. The NOAA grant was funded through the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The upgrade will improve tidal flow, which reduces flooding and erosion and positively affects the ecosystem. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2025.

This multi-year effort started in 2014 when the Nature Conservancy and the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services worked together to create the state’s tidal crossing assessment protocol. Multiple organizations and professionals participated in nearly every step of the protocol’s development. The state used this information to assess all of New Hampshire’s tidal crossings in 2018, and determined that 80 percent of crossings were moderately to highly restrictive of tidal flows. These two lead organizations, along with other stakeholders, advanced the effort with design and engineering projects from 2020 through 2023. This funding helped move these three tidal-crossing replacement and restoration projects toward the final step: implementation. Read more here.

Guam Governor’s Land Summit Forges Path for Land Planning Initiatives

The Bureau of Statistics and Plans, Guam Coastal Management Program in partnership with the Department of Land Management, Guam Ancestral Lands Commission, and Chamorro Land Trust Commission held the Governor's Land Summit on July 25. The 2023 Governor's Land Summit, the first in over 20 years, called for the participation of subject matter experts from government of Guam agencies and organizations to determine the status of reserved government lands and discuss plans which would require additional land. In attendance were over a hundred participants including representation from management and staff from over 10 agencies; with each agency presenting their current land inventories, land use plans, and challenges in the implementation of programs and projects spanning from major development for utilities, infrastructure, government facilities, and housing to parks and conservation. The discussions contributed to the government of Guam's ongoing efforts to update the comprehensive development plan for Guam. Read more here.

San Diego May Permanently Restrict Access to Point La Jolla

It will be up to the full City Council to decide if the partial closure of Point La Jolla, pupping grounds for sea lions, should be extended year-round. On July 20, the City Council’s Environment Committee voted unanimously to recommend the year-round closure of Point La Jolla to a full council hearing. The California Coastal Commission voted unanimously more than a year ago in April 2022, to grant the City’s request to close Point La Jolla’s sea lion pupping grounds from May 1 to Oct. 31 to protect the marine mammals from human contact. The battle pitting humans versus pinnipeds in La Jolla has been ongoing for more than 20 years. It began in the mid-1990s when harbor seals began turning up in larger numbers at Children’s Pool. Read more here.

NOAA and Partners Announce Below-Average 'Dead Zone' Measured in Gulf of Mexico

NOAA-supported scientists announced that this year’s Gulf of Mexico “dead zone”— an area of low to no oxygen that can kill fish and marine life — is approximately 3,058 square miles. That’s almost two million acres of habitat potentially unavailable to fish and bottom species — nearly as large as the land area of Yellowstone National Park. The five-year average size of the dead zone (also known as the hypoxic zone) is now 4,347 square miles, which is over two times larger than management targets. Since records began in 1985, the largest hypoxic zone measured was 8,776 square miles in 2017. This is the seventh smallest zone on record in the 37 year measurement history. Read more here.

Hurricane Ian Battered These Middle-Class Beach Communities. Repair Costs Finished Them Off.

Hurricane Ian’s assault on southwest Florida last fall is speeding a transition already occurring in some of the state’s coastal communities — driving out middle- and working-class people and replacing them with deep-pocketed buyers. In the waterfront cities of Fort Myers Beach and Cape Coral, even homeowners with flood insurance are finding they often cannot afford the costs of rebuilding their houses to modern building codes, as federal rules demand. Instead, many ended up selling their properties as vacant land, according to real estate transaction data shared with POLITICO. People fleeing the communities where Ian made landfall include workers and retirees who had bought their homes decades ago, when teachers, firefighters and others of modest means could still afford cottages and stilt houses blocks from the Gulf of Mexico’s white-sand beaches. The buyers, according to transaction data, include people and corporations who can afford to pay $1 million or more in cash. Read more here.

FEMA Funds First-of-its-kind Effort to Rebuild Puerto Rican Coral Reefs

Hurricanes, earthquakes and an outbreak of a fast-spreading coral disease have wreaked havoc on the coral reefs that protect Puerto Rico’s shores in recent years. Now, the federal government has for the first time allocated disaster relief funding to help rebuild coral reefs in San Juan Bay. In June, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced that it had allocated $3 million for the first phase of a $38.6 million initiative to restore the bay’s coral reef barrier, which acts as a natural breakwater that defends the communities around the bay from coastal flooding. The reef has recently eroded, leaving the three-mile bay area vulnerable to flooding and large storm surges. The restoration project will protect about 800 structures in nearby communities, officials say, and help insulate island residents from the effects of future storms. Read more here.

Maryland Awards $3 Million in Climate Resilience Grants to 13 Community Projects

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources today announced the award of more than $3 million in competitive grants for 13 climate resilience projects. The grants will help communities design and construct solutions to withstand flooding and other weather-related events. The projects selected will reduce risk for vulnerable communities, incorporate climate change data and information into existing plans and policies, and develop nature-based or natural solutions to help control flooding. Funding is provided by the state’s Resiliency Through Restoration Initiative, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Read about the projects here.

[NEW] NOAA Announces Members of Ocean Research Advisory Council (Including CSO's Derek Brockbank!)

On August 1, 2023, 18 ocean experts began their appointment as members of the Ocean Research Advisory Panel (ORAP). The 18 ORAP members include representatives from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, ocean industries, state, tribal, territorial or local governments, and academia. “The ocean has never been more important – it regulates our climate and provides jobs, nourishment, recreation and respite. These experts will provide the Ocean Policy Committee with the technical and policy advice to support ocean health and a strong blue economy,” said Brenda Mallory, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality and co-chair of the OPC. “Their deep knowledge and diverse backgrounds will be invaluable in advancing the Biden-Harris Administration’s ocean priorities.” Learn more here.

[NEW] Submit Your Photos for the National Estuaries Week Photo Contest

In celebration of National Estuaries Week, which takes place September 16 to 23, 2023, NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management is hosting a photo contest.Send your best photos from the national estuarine research reserves that display the beauty of the reserves, critters that live there, and the people who work and play there.Winners will be chosen by a panel of judges and will be featured in our social media campaign during National Estuaries Week. Submit your photos under the following categories: learn, play, vistas, smiles, and work. Submit images (minimum of 1200 pixels wide, no more than 10 photos) to OCM.NERRS.PhotoContest@noaa.gov. All images MUST include the following information: photographer’s name; completed copyright and likeness form; short description of when and where the photo was taken; and which category your photo is representing. Learn more about the contest here.

[NEW] TNC and PEW Release RFP for Shellfish Growers Resiliency Fund

The Nature Conservancy and The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Supporting Oyster Aquaculture & Restoration (SOAR) Program has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for the Shellfish Growers Resiliency Fund (Fund). The Fund aims to pave the way for a more resilient and sustainable U.S. shellfish industry that benefits the ocean and the communities which rely upon it. Funding will be open to applicants in the United States and U.S. Territories. The award will fund projects up to $20,000 for one-to-two-year projects and will target shellfish growers, shellfish aquaculture industry associations, and closely linked supply chain companies supporting aquaculture. The application deadline for the RFP is Friday October 6, 2023. To learn more about the Fund and the application process, visit the SOAR website: https://www.nature.org/soar. If you have questions about the Resiliency Fund, please contact Rebekah Borgert rebekah.borgert@TNC.ORG.

NOAA Offering On-Location Coastal Flood Mapping Training

Learn technical skills to address the nation’s increase in damaging and costly coastal flood events by hosting NOAA’s Coastal Inundation Mapping course at your location. This two-day GIS-based training equips you with baseline skills for mapping coastal flooding. Earn 16 hours of continuing education credits while engaging in hands-on exercises to gain practical experience. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn how to map and determine impacts of sea level rise and coastal flooding.

Calm Waters Group Seeking Survey Responses on Stakeholder Management

Calm Waters Group is currently building OurTownHall – a stakeholder management platform for underserved communities. This project will help agencies scale up their reach, accuracy, and efficiency of community engagement and accelerate community participation in planning and infrastructure projects. Responses will help to better understand the challenges faced in conducting stakeholder management. Responses will be anonymous and solely used for the purposes of this project and only shared with the internal project team. Aggregate responses may be shared to support future development of the project. Government survey; Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) survey

Report on Nature Based Solutions and Coastal Adaptation Released

The University of Arizona's Center for Climate Adaptation Science and Solutions, in collaboration with the Aspen Global Change Institute, has just published a report titled Understanding the Effectiveness of Coastal Nature-based Solutions: Practitioner-based Learning. This assessment involved interviewing more than 60 coastal adaptation practitioners from the US and Pacific Islands to document their experience in implementing nature-based solutions to protect coastal areas against sea level rise and coastal storms.

Free Translation of Climate Science Information and Research Documents Available

Climate Cardinals is an international youth-led nonprofit that has grown to 9,000 volunteers in 40+ countries & translated 750,000 words of climate information into 100+ languages. They are open to any translation requests from organizations producing verifiable and scientifically-valid climate information and research. They are interested in documents shorter than 25 pages. Our past partners include the UNEP, Yale, Italian Government, and UNICEF. The have capacity for translation in ALL languages, but only have the capacity for translation and review in the following languages: English, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Arabic, Croatian, Bosnian, and Polish. For questions about this project, please reach out to their general email: Info@climatecardinals.org, with an email directed to Hikaru Hayakawa, Partnerships Director, or Andrew Gao, AI Director. Submit documents here.

Ocean Acidification Mini-Grant Opportunity

NOAA's Ocean Acidification Program has announced a FY24 Education mini-grant opportunity to provide assistance for the development of ocean and coast educational tools in underserved and/or Indigenous communities. Letters of intent are due by Friday, September 15, 2023.

Request for Proposals on Including Indigenous Ways of Knowing in Decision-Making for Ocean and Coastal Management

The Lenfest Ocean Program released an RFP for projects that elevate Indigenous Peoples in sharing their traditions, culture, knowledge, and wisdom to improve evidence-based decision-making for the management, conservation, and restoration of coastal marine species, habitats, and ecosystems. The RFP is intended to support identification, analysis, and/or communication of Indigenous Knowledge and wisdom (where it is culturally appropriate); and engagement approaches that facilitate the inclusion of this knowledge into ocean and coastal management decisions. The deadline to apply is Monday, October 16, 2023.