Four communities in the Great Lakes Region will receive technical assistance and training to strengthen their resilience to coastal flooding, as part of the Great Lakes Regional Challenge. The communities are the City of New Baltimore, MI; City of St. Clair Shores, MI; Minnesota Point, MN; and Wayne County, NY. 

The Great Lakes Regional Challenge is a project of the Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM), the American Planning Association (APA), the Coastal States Organization (CSO) and the Great Lakes Sea Grant Network via Wisconsin Sea Grant. The program is open to coastal communities in the U.S. Great Lakes with populations of 250,000 or less. 

In Summer 2023, the four communities will participate in a coastal resilience training and peer exchange workshop. During the workshop, attendees will receive intensive, hands-on training designed to boost their capacity to better plan for, prepare for, and adapt to extreme lake levels and associated weather and climate-related hazards. Teams will identify areas where ecological restoration (i.e. nature-based) efforts will have the greatest impact for social, economic, and environmental resilience to coastal flooding, and develop plans that identify and describe specific efforts to increase resilience and reduce coastal flood exposure in those areas.

In addition, each community will also receive one year of individual assistance to support their efforts. At the end of the year, the four communities will conclude the program with:

• One vulnerability self-assessment,
• A set of planning scenarios,
• At least one identified natural or nature-based project for implementation,
• One action plan,
• At least two identified potential funding source(s) to support its implementation,
• Access to a regional community of practice, and
• Improved hard and soft skills around coastal resilience.

Learn more here.

National Weather Service: Seiche on Lake Erie Brings Water Levels to All-Time Low

The National Weather Service is reporting a seiche on Lake Erie. The water level on the western basin of Lake Erie near Toledo broke the all-time lowest level ever recorded, the agency said. It noted that the level is still dropping. A seiche is a standing wave twirling in a body of water, according to the National Ocean Center. The seiche, pronounced say-sh, is occurring because of the harsh winter storm that has settled in Ohio and much of the country. The storm produced low temperatures, high winds and snow. Read more

U-M Water Center Receives Erb Grant to Work with State on Lake Erie Phosphorus Reductions

The University of Michigan Water Center received a $610,000, three-year grant from the Erb Family Foundation to work with the state of Michigan to reduce phosphorus loading to Lake Erie. The Water Center will provide technical and day-to-day collaborative support to the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, and the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. The state agencies and the Water Center will work to understand and reduce Michigan’s nutrient runoff to Lake Erie, as well as design and implement a diverse, robust and transparent advisory process to inform the state’s adaptive management plan for the lake. Read more

Beaufort County Adapts: Sea Level Impacts Beneath Our Feet Study Receives $300K Grant

A two year study called “Beaufort County Adapts: Sea Level Impacts Beneath Our Feet” has been funded by a grant of nearly $300,000 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Program Office to the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium. The S.C. Sea Grant Consortium, a multidisciplinary team of scientists, and Beaufort County are collaborating on the study. The team is taking steps to analyze how sea-level rise may negatively impact underground infrastructure and groundwater in order to lessen the potential impacts. Working on the study is a team of social- and natural-resources scientists from the University of South Carolina, College of Charleston, S.C. Department of Natural Resources, as well as mapping experts and community engagement specialists at the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium and specialists from Beaufort County’s planning division. Read more

Maine’s New ‘Roadmap’ for Offshore Wind Power Follows A Complex Route

When Gov. Janet Mills released her “roadmap” for the state to develop offshore wind power, much of the focus, naturally, was on where the map headed. The aim is to create floating platforms topped with wind turbines, which capture the Gulf of Maine’s consistent sea breezes and generate electricity, helping to meet Maine’s stepped-up climate goal: 100% renewably produced power by 2040. The 111-page roadmap also shows what it will take to reach that destination. Created by an independent advisory committee under the Governor’s Energy Office, the map prescribes a complex set of strategies for developing the necessary infrastructure and workforce while creating new business opportunities, safeguarding Maine’s environment and fisheries, promoting social equity and achieving other goals. Read more

Department of Interior Announced Keystone Initiative Coasts: Saltmarshes

The Department of the Interior has announced a framework for ecosystem restoration and resilience which will include, among other initiatives, efforts to conserve vital salt marsh habitats through funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. This is a "$2 billion down payment that builds on existing Department programs and invests in locally led landscape, partner driven restoration."  Restoration and Resilience Goal #1 will address Coastal Resilience through Keystone Initiative Coast: Saltmarsh, which will "restore coastal wetlands using nature-based solutions to improve coastal and estuarian habitats and increase resilience against hazards such as storm surge and sea level rise." Conserving these vital salt marsh landscapes will help climate-vulnerable species, including the saltmarsh sparrow, "by restoring existing salt marshes and protecting adjacent, inland areas to allow marshes to migrate as sea levels rise." Saltmarsh prioritization tools will be used "to rehabilitate and realign salt marsh habitat." Read more here.

CSO RFP for Great Lakes Coastal and Nearshore Habitat Engineering & Design

CSO has released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a design team to address coastal and nearshore habitat restoration engineering and design needs in the Great Lakes. To carry out this project, the design team will work with three Great Lakes states to complete engineering and design work on the projects selected. Proposals are due March 31, 2023. To learn more here.

Request for Information: Framing the National Nature Assessment

The US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) is seeking input from the public to help inform the framing, development, and use of the National Nature Assessment. The USGCRP welcomes comments on the definition of nature, what questions the assessment can help answer, potential audiences and engagement processes, trends and projections, and relevant information sources. Comments are due March 31, 2023. More information on how to respond to this request, including guiding questions, can be found here.

EPA Announced Availability of $100 Million through Inflation Reduction Act for Environmental Justice Grants

The EPA announced the availability of approximately $100 million for projects that advance environmental justice in underserved and overburdened communities across the country. EPA has published two Requests for Applications for this funding through the Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving (EJCPS) Cooperative Agreement Program and the Environmental Justice Government-to-Government (EJG2G) Program. Applications for both are due April 10, 2023. Learn more about these programs here.

2023 National Coastal Resilience Fund RFP Now Open

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Department of Defense, Occidental, Shell, and TransRe is now soliciting Pre-Proposals for the 2023 National Coastal Resilience Fund. NFWF will award up to $140 million in grants to create and restore natural systems in order to increase protection for communities from coastal hazards, such as storms, sea- and lake-level changes, inundation, and coastal erosion, while improving habitats for fish and wildlife species. NFWF prioritizes projects that are community led or incorporate direct community engagement and benefit underserved communities facing disproportionate harm from climate impacts. Pre-proposals must be submitted through NFWF’s Easygrants system no later than Wednesday, April 12, 2023. The Request for Proposals is available here.

BOEM Announces Proposed Rule to Increase Protection of Marine Archaeological Resources

In order to better protect shipwrecks and other cultural resources on the seabed from harm due to offshore energy activities, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is proposing regulatory changes to its marine archaeology reporting requirements for activities proposed on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). A notice of proposed rulemaking and request for comment was published in the Federal Register for a 60-day comment period ending on April 17, 2023. Learn more and find instructions to comment here.



Request for Proposals: Great Lakes Sediment and Nutrient Reduction Program

The Great Lakes Commission today issued a request for proposals for the 2023 Great Lakes Sediment and Nutrient Reduction Program (GLSNRP) grant program.

The Great Lakes Sediment and Nutrient Reduction Program has provided grants to reduce nutrients and sediments entering the Great Lakes for more than 30 years. This year’s program will continue to help local partners take action to reduce nutrient loads from agricultural watersheds and eroding shorelines and streambanks in the Great Lakes basin. Applications are due April 21, 2023. Learn more and apply here.

FEMA Announces NOFO for Safeguarding Tomorrow RLF Program

FEMA has released a Notice of Funding Opportunity for the Safeguarding Tomorrow Revolving Loan Fund Program. Applications are due April 28, 2023. Learn more here.

National Estuary Program Coastal Watersheds Grant Program

Restore America’s Estuaries, in partnership with the U.S. EPA, released the 2023 funding round of the National Estuary Program (NEP) Coastal Watersheds Grant. Approximately $1 million in grants will be made available. The NEP Coastal Watersheds Grant Program is a 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. There will be an informational webinar on March 20, 2023, register here. RAE will select grantees through a two-step process: 1) letters of intent (LOI); and 2) full proposals by invitation only. Both steps are competitive and a request for full proposal does not guarantee funding. LOIs are due on Friday, May 5, 2023. Learn more here.

Coastal Program Announces 2023 New Hampshire Coastal Resilience Grant Request for Applications

The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) Coastal Program is soliciting 2023 Coastal Resilience Grant (CRG) applications for coastal resilience projects. The CRG funding opportunity supports projects that build capacity, advance planning, and develop designs to increase coastal resilience, with specific focus on community and/or habitat resilience. Applications are due May 26, 2023. Learn more here.