CSO Newsletter
The Coastal States Organization represents the nation’s Coastal States, Territories, and Commonwealths on ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resource issues.
Spotlight on Coastal Management:
NOAA 2020 Coastal Management Photo Contest
NOAA is holding its fourth annual coastal management photo contest. From ensuring public access to balancing development with natural areas, coastal management keeps our coasts thriving. For the fourth annual coastal management photo contest, we want to see your photos of coastal management in action. Show us your natural infrastructure projects, beautiful beaches you work to protect, recreational uses, and more! Find inspiration from the list of nine categories.

Winners will be chosen by a panel of judges and featured in our coastal management social media campaign

The deadline to submit is this Friday, May 8th! Learn more here.
In the States and Regions
East Coast and Caribbean
Hurricane Risk Reduction Measures Coming to the Rockaways
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District announces the first contract award for the East Rockaway Inlet to Rockaway Inlet and Jamaica Bay, New York Coastal Storm Risk Reduction Project. This is the first of several contracts that will provide nearly $600 million in federal investment for the construction of storm risk reduction infrastructure on both the Atlantic Ocean shoreline and the Jamaica Bay shoreline of the Rockaway Peninsula. Read more

As Climate Change Laps Its Shores, USVI Will Face Tough Choices
It may take another year or more, but the U.S. Virgin Islands is moving to identify public and private properties that lie in its mega-sized flood zone. Then all it will have to do is decide whether (and how) to protect individual structures or whether (and how) to remove them. A recent New York Times article raised the spectrum of widespread use of the government power of eminent domain – that is, a forced buy out of privately held homes or other structures, to clear flood plains, but responses from local and federal officials to Source inquiries indicate that is an unlikely scenario for the Virgin Islands, at least for now. Read more
Great Lakes
Grand Haven Beach Will Double in Size This Summer Thanks to Beach Nourishment Project
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to replenish sand along the beach of Grand Haven State Park next month after finishing an annual maintenance dredging of the channel in Grand Haven, taking clean sand from the harbor and placing it on the shoreline. The beach nourishment project is meant to protect the state park from erosion by placing freshly dredged sand from the channel onto the beach, said Chris Schropp, Lake Michigan Chief of Construction for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Read more

After the Flood: How Chicago Copes With Effects Of Climate Change
Chicago is encountering firsthand the effects of climate change on the Great Lakes, the result of record-high lake levels, warmer temperatures, and more frequent major storms. This winter, Lake Michigan reclaimed large stretches of lakefront in the city, especially following a particularly damaging storm in January. Chicago is known for its harsh winters, and that January storm was strong, but it was not out of the ordinary. Yet it contained a perfect mixture of extremes that spawned widespread waterfront destruction. Read more
West Coast and Pacific
As Sea Level Rises, Multiple Factors Threaten Honolulu's Urban Infrastructure
Today and as sea level continues to rise in the future, extreme high tide events cause Honolulu, Hawai'i's primary urban center to experience flooding not just from water washing directly over the shoreline, but also from groundwater inundation as the water table is pushed toward the surface, and reverse flow through the municipal drainage system. In a study published in  Scientific Reports , researchers at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, found in the next few decades, sea level rise will likely cause large and increasing percentages of land area to be impacted simultaneously by the three flood mechanisms. Read more

California’s critical kelp forests are disappearing in a warming world. Can they be saved?
Kelp need our help. Which is why an unprecedented alliance of scientists, fishers, surfers, entrepreneurs, and experts is coming together to revive California’s vital kelp ecosystem, decimated by a warming ocean. Read more
Gulf
Protecting What Was Nearly Lost: Alabama Turns Tragedy to Triumph in Newly Protected Coastal Regions
When 200 million gallons of crude oil flowed into the Gulf of Mexico 10 years ago this week, life on the water stopped. The beaches were closed to visitors as the slick washed ashore and scientists rushed to save marine life covered in the goo. The coastal communities of Baldwin County were left with an uncertain future. Now, a decade onward, environmental stewards say lessons from the catastrophe have been learned and the Gulf Coast has shifted from simply profiting from nature to preserving it. Read more

New ‘Green’ Video Can Benefit Texas Communities, Others
A new video from the  Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service  examines three case studies of green infrastructure best practices in the Houston area that can be applied at different scales in coastal and flood-prone areas of Texas and elsewhere. The  Green Infrastructure: a nature-based solution for stormwater  video was produced as part of the Green Infrastructure for Texas, or GIFT, program.  Read more
Events & Webinars
Announcements
2020 National Coastal and Estuarine Summit
We have been notified that the Rhode Island Convention Center has been contracted by the state to become a COVID-19 care center through October 2020. Therefore it is no longer possible for us to host the 2020 National Coastal and Estuarine Summit in October as an in-person event. We remain dedicated to the importance of collaboration across the many sectors of the coastal and estuarine research and management community, and we are actively working on alternative options for hosting the Summit. We will provide updates via email and our website as our plans develop. We appreciate your interest in and support of the National Summit and hope you are able to be a part of the modified event.

New Congressional Research Service Report on Flood Risk Reduction from Natural and Nature-Based Features: Army Corps of Engineers Authorities
On April 27th, the Congressional Research Service released a new report reviewing the challenges and opportunities for use and incorporation of natural and nature-based features within USACE’s flood risk reduction and resilience efforts. The report can be found here .

Working Waterfront Video and Story Map
The Middle Peninsula, Northern Neck, and Eastern Shore, with the assistance of the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program, have issued a video and companion story map highlighting marine and seafood businesses across the three regions. Check out the video and story map here .

New State of Maine's Working Waterfront Report
The Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association has released a new report which shares information accumulated from interviews, conversations, meetings, and research from communities along the coast to help elevate the value and attention paid to working waterfronts for commercial fishing and provide suggestions for how to protect this valuable part Maine's food system and economy. The report is available here.

New Partnership for Gulf Coast Land Conservation Executive Director
Becky Prado has been named the new Executive Director of the Partnership for Gulf Coastal Land Conservation a coalition of 26 local, regional and national conservation organizations that work in the Gulf Coast region within the five Gulf of Mexico states – Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

FEMA BRIC Materials and Public Comment Period
FEMA Hazard Mitigation Assistance Program has released the new Building Resilience Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC)  Proposed Policy Guidance  to the Federal Register. A 30-day comment period is now open until  May 11 . Comments may be submitted online directly  to the  Federal eRulemaking Portal . The FEMA Hazard Mitigation Assistance Program has also released the  BRIC  grant program  Stakeholder Feedback Summary  and a condensed stakeholder feedback   fact sheet . This summary is compiled from stakeholder feedback garnished through the 2019 stakeholder engagement process.

USDA Announces $5 Million in Wetland Mitigation Banking Program Funds
The USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced the availability of up to $5 million for wetland mitigation banks. This funding through the Wetland Mitigation Banking Program is available to help conservation partners develop or establish mitigation banks to help agricultural producers maintain eligibility for USDA programs. Applications must be submitted through  Grants.gov  by July 6, 2020 . Learn more here .

NEP Coastal Watersheds Grant Program 2020 Request for Proposals
The National Estuary Program (NEP) Coastal Watersheds Grant (CWG) Program is a newly created, nationally competitive grants program designed to support projects that address urgent and challenging issues threatening the well-being of coastal and estuarine areas within determined estuaries of national significance. Restore America’s Estuaries will be administering the NEP CWG Program in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Grantees will be selected based on a two-step process: Letters of Intent, followed by full proposals by invitation only. LOI submittals are due on August 7 . Find the Request for Proposals   here .

Long Island Sound Futures Fund 2020 Request for Proposals
The Long Island Sound Futures Fund (LISFF) is seeking proposals to protect and restore the health and living resources of Long Island Sound (Sound). Approximately $3 million is expected to be available for grants in 2020. The program is managed by National Fish and Wildlife Foundation in collaboration with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Long Island Sound Study (LISS), and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Proposals are due June 2, 2020. Learn more here.
Job Openings
The views expressed in articles referenced here are those of the authors and do not represent or reflect the views of CSO.

If you have a news item or job posting to include in future CSO Newsletters, please send an email to: rkeylon@coastalstates.org with a subject line: "Newsletter Content". Please include the information to be considered in the body of the email.
Please note: CSO reserves final decision regarding published newsletter content and may not use all information submitted.
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