Adaptation Actions for Water Management and Ecosystem Protection

The adaptation strategies provided below are intended to inform and assist communities in identifying potential alternatives. They are illustrative and are presented to help communities consider possible ways to address anticipated current and future climate threats to contaminated site management.

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Adaptation Actions
Source Documents
Disclaimer

Maintain and Restore Wetlands

Allow coastal wetlands to migrate inland (e.g., through setbacks, density restrictions, land purchases
- See how Maryland Analyzes Coastal Wetlands Susceptibility to Climate Change
Create a regional sediment management (RSM) plan
Develop adaptive stormwater management practices (e.g., promoting natural buffers, adequate culvert sizing)
- See how Barre City, Vermont Accounts for Climate Change within a Brownfield Redevelopment Plan
Establish rolling easements
Identify and protect ecologically significant ("critical") areas such as nursery grounds, spawning grounds, and areas of high species diversity
- See how San Juan Bay Estuary Program Assesses Vulnerability and Targets Adaptation Measures
Incorporate wetland protection into infrastructure planning (e.g., transportation planning, sewer utilities)
Maintain Sediment Transport
Preserve and restore the structural complexity and biodiversity of vegetation in tidal marshes, seagrass meadows, and mangroves
- See how Southwest Florida Assesses Salt Marsh Vulnerability to Sea Level Rise
Prohibit hard shore protection
Promote wetland accretion by introducing sediment
Remove hard protection or other barriers to tidal and riverine flow (e.g., riverine and tidal dike removals)
Trap or add sand through beach nourishment – the addition of sand to a shoreline to enhance or create a beach area
Trap sand through construction of groins – a barrier type structure that traps sand by interrupting longshore transport

Preserve Coastal Land and Development

Create permitting rules that constrain locations for landfills, hazardous waste dumps, mine tailings, and toxic chemical facilities
Incorporate consideration of climate change impacts into planning for new infrastructure (e.g., homes, businesses)
Integrate coastal management into land use planning
- See how Maryland Analyzes Coastal Wetlands Susceptibility to Climate Change
Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) – using an integrated approach to achieve sustainability
Land acquisition program – purchase coastal land that is damaged or prone to damage and use it for conservation
Land exchange programs – owners exchange property in the floodplain for county-owned land outside of the floodplain
Manage realignment and deliberately realign engineering structures affecting rivers, estuaries, and coastlines

Use "Soft" Shoreline Maintenance

Composite systems – incorporate elements of two or more methods (e.g., breakwater, sand fill, and planting vegetation)
Create dunes along backshore of beach; includes planting dune grasses and sand fencing to induce settling of wind-blown sands
Create marsh by planting the appropriate species – typically grasses, sedges, or rushes – in the existing substrate
Increase shoreline setbacks
Install rock sills and other artificial breakwaters in front of tidal marshes along energetic estuarine shores
Plant SAV (such as sea grasses) to stabilize sediment and reduce erosion
- See how San Juan Bay Estuary Program Assesses Vulnerability and Targets Adaptation Measures
Redefine riverine flood hazard zones to match projected expansion of flooding frequency and extent
Remediate Brownfield sites in coastal areas and develop parkland along the waterfront that explicitly accounts for sea-level rise
- See how San Francisco Cleans Up India Basin Waterfront Brownfield Site as Part of Greenspace Development Effort
Remove shoreline hardening structures such as bulkheads, dikes, and other engineered structures to allow for shoreline migration
Replace shoreline armoring with living shorelines – through beach nourishment, planting vegetation, etc
- See how San Juan Bay Estuary Program Assesses Vulnerability and Targets Adaptation Measures
Restrict or prohibit development in erosion zones
Use natural breakwaters of oysters (or install other natural breakwaters) to dissipate wave action and protect shorelines

Use "Hard" Shoreline Maintenance

Fortify dikes
Harden shorelines with breakwaters – structures placed offshore to reduce wave action
Harden shorelines with bulkheads – anchored, vertical barriers constructed at the shoreline to block erosion
Harden shorelines with revetments that armor the slope face of the shoreline
Harden shorelines with seawalls
Headland control – reinforce or accentuate an existing geomorphic feature or create an artificial headland (e.g., Geotextile tubes)

Preserve Habitat

Adapt protections of important biogeochemical zones and critical habitats as the locations of these areas change with climate
Connect landscapes with corridors to enable migrations
- See how Southwest Florida Assesses Salt Marsh Vulnerability to Sea Level Rise
Design estuaries with dynamic boundaries and buffers
Expand the planning horizons of land use planning to incorporate longer climate predictions
- See how Maryland Analyzes Coastal Wetlands Susceptibility to Climate Change
Purchase upland development rights or property rights
Replicate habitat types in multiple areas to spread risks associated with climate change
- See how Pennsylvania Protects Coldwater Fisheries and Water Quality from Climate Change
Retreat from, and abandonment of, coastal barriers

Maintain Water Quality and Availability

Create water markets – transferring land and water from agricultural to community use
Design new coastal drainage system
Develop adaptive stormwater management practices (e.g., remove impervious surface, replace undersized culverts)
Establish or broaden "use containment areas" to allocate and cap water withdrawal
Incorporate sea level rise into planning for new infrastructure (e.g., sewage systems)
- See how Southeast Florida Compact Analyzes Sea Level Rise Risk
Integrate climate change scenarios into water supply system
- See how Southeast Florida Compact Analyzes Sea Level Rise Risk
Manage water demand (through water reuse, recycling, rainwater harvesting, desalination, etc.)
Plug drainage canals
Prevent or limit groundwater extraction from shallow aquifers

Use Integrated Water Resources Management

Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) involves “a process which promotes the coordinated development and management of water, land, and related resources in order to maximize the resultant economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems (Global Water Partnership, 2000). It can include regionally specific priorities, such as:

restoring and protecting ecosystems, including protecting and enhancing fish and wildlife habitat
increasing the reliability of drinking water supply
enhancing water conservation
improving storage and use of surface water and groundwater
flood hazard mitigation

See how the Yakima River Basin Plans for Future Water Availability used Integrated Water Resources Management to prepare for its anticipated future climate

Source Documents

These strategies are adapted from existing EPA, CDC and other federal resources. Please view these strategies in the context provided by the primary source document:

Adapting to Climate Change: A Planning Guide for State Coastal Managers (PDF)(138 pp, 1.7 MB, About PDF)

Disclaimer

The adaptation strategies provided are intended to inform and assist communities in identifying potential alternatives. They are illustrative and are presented to help communities consider possible ways to address anticipated current and future climate threats to contaminated site management. Read the full disclaimer.