Great Lakes Coastal Symposium 2024

This presentation is part of the Nature Based Solutions Organized Session.

The use of natural and nature-based features (NNBF) for erosion control and flood management along coastal shorelines is growing nationwide. However, as an emerging practice, there are limited tools available to guide landowners and practitioners in the selection of NNBF techniques. The State of New York is currently developing a web-based decision support tool (DST) to better inform the selection of NNBF practices with the intent to increase resiliency in coastal communities. The DST is semi-quantitative, combining engineering practices with ecological considerations in a tool that will be functional and easy to use for both non-professional landowners and professional designers and practitioners. This presentation will review NNBF practices on Great Lakes Shorelines and will review the tool, which is currently under development.

This presentation is part of the Nature Based Solutions Organized Session.

The Great Lakes shorelines have seen increased damages in recent years from flooding and erosion due to historically high lake levels, severe storms, and climate change. Cities are on the frontlines facing these issues and the most vulnerable communities often have even fewer resources to address them. This presentation will provide an overview of two programs that provide direct technical support to municipalities in the Great Lakes region. The two programs are the Initiative for Resilient Great Lakes Coasts, sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, and funded through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, and the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative's Resilient Coastal Projects Initiative, funded in large part through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Both programs engage with a cohort of communities to advance their coastal resilience projects and build local capacity for incorporating nature-based solutions into coastal hazard mitigation. This talk will share the program models and municipal engagement approach, and include a discussion of some of the challenges and opportunities identified thus far as this work continues. The program leads and partners will present engineered designs of innovative nature-based solutions with multiple co-benefits.

This presentation is part of the Nature Based Solutions Organized Session.

This presentation is part of the Nature Based Solutions Organized Session. 

Climate-induced flooding along the shoreline of Lake Ontario caused significant damage to infrastructure and property in 2017 and 2019. As climate change continues to impact lake levels in unforeseen and uncertain ways, the region faces a threat from increased erosion, flooding, and low water levels. It is critical to establish dynamic adaptation strategies that make communities better prepared to face the impacts of climate change. Even with many on-going state-level initiatives such as the Resiliency and Economic Development Initiative (REDI), Coastal Lakeshore Economy and Resiliency Initiative (CLEAR) and the Great Lakes Action Agenda (GLAA) pushing for nature-based shorelines, ecosystem-based shoreline management and resilient land use practices, structural solutions such as engineered shorelines remain the most popular mitigation strategy for shoreline communities and property owners. This project uses detailed interviews with adaptation professionals, county and regional planners and natural resource managers along the shoreline to identify pertinent barriers to the adoption of non-structural solutions for coastal adaptation. Using a barrier-analysis approach developed by Moser and Ekstrom (2009) - we outline barriers at various stages of the adaptation process, from strategy selection to implementation. We find that informational and resource constraints, misaligned incentives, and institutional and legal hurdles prevent a widespread adoption of non-structural adaptation strategies and suggest ways to overcome these barriers through alternative approaches to traditional adaptation governance mechanisms.

This panel is part of the Nature Based Solutions Organized Session.

This “double-block” session will include an overview of opportunities to continue knowledge sharing and dialogue around implementation of Great Lakes natural and nature-based approaches. Presenters from the organized session will respond to Q+A while participants have a chance to share their own stories. The facilitator will also highlight some regional and national resources and venues where participants can learn from each other and stay connected, including the Nature-Based Topics Page on NOAA’s Digital Coast and the Great Lakes Chapter of the cross-boundary Nature-Based Coastal Solutions Community of Practice.