Economic Scorecard Helps Coastal Communities Assess Best Places for Offshore Wind Facilities

Although other nations have used offshore wind facilities for decades, the technology is relatively new to the U.S. and the growth potential is large. Some communities, however, are concerned that wind facilities might have a negative impact on coastal tourism and recreation. For this reason a “scorecard” was developed that ranks potential impacts for 113 Atlantic coast geographies, primarily counties. Community profiles were also created for the 70 counties most vulnerable to negative impacts from wind energy facilities.

This information is used by counties assessing the pros and cons of wind energy facilities. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management created these assessments using economic data provided through NOAA’s Digital Coast and their Economics: National Ocean Watch initiative. (2016)

More information: coast.noaa.gov/dataregistry/search/collection/info/enow

Partners: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, IFC Incorporated, NOAA Office for Coastal Management

Small-Scale Retrofits Improve Water Quality

At 12 sites on Pivers Island, the North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve and the state’s coastal management program joined other state and federal partners in an effort to upgrade water quality and lessen flooding. This was accomplished by boosting green infrastructure (natural areas) and making minor retrofits to existing infrastructure. These cost-efficient improvements made a difference. Improved water quality is particularly important to this location, the site of several coastal and marine organizations and a short distance from fishing and agricultural communities. (2016)

Partners: Duke University Marine Lab, NOAA’s National Center for Coastal Ocean Science, North Carolina Division of Coastal Management, North Carolina Reserve

Home Relocations Reduce Flood Risk

Kinston, a city of about 20,000 in Lenoir County, North Carolina, suffered repeated flood losses during the 1990s. Hurricanes Fran, Dennis, and Floyd damaged or flooded more than 75 percent of the county’s homes.

The City of Kinston’s strategy to improve community resilience included the purchase of the majority of homes in the Neuse River floodplain and relocation of 97 percent of those residents within the tax district, often to superior housing. Whole neighborhoods were relocated to higher ground. The purchase of the first 100 homes saved approximately $6 million in avoided flood losses during the next big storm.

A total of 1,600 homes have been purchased, leaving 73 percent of the city’s floodplain as open space. Restoration of the floodplain has been passive; the land has been allowed to revert to its natural state, and the floodplain is now primarily forested. Several programs made this possible, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, Housing and Urban Development’s Disaster Recovery Initiative, and North Carolina’s State Acquisition and Relocation Fund.

More information: coast.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/training/kinston-flood-risk

Partners: City of Kinston, Federal Emergency Management Agency, University of North Carolina

Thirty Years of Fishery Data Now Available

Analysis of 30 years’ worth of larval fish samples from three research reserves is now available through www.SEAMAP.org. Fisheries management decisions throughout the Mid-Atlantic region are benefiting from this information. Access to these data is helping people expand their understanding of current conditions and changes, including the relative abundance of species and community composition. The project is also broadening the impact of the reserves’ system-wide environmental monitoring data by integrating these data with the fisheries data. For example, the two data sets together allow researchers to analyze larval winter flounder data relative to climate change. The Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve, in partnership with Rutgers University and research reserves in the Carolinas, created the portal. (2016)

More information: www.nerra.org/projects/connecting-the-dots-between-data-and-atlantic-fisheries-management

Partners: Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve, NOAA Office for Coastal Management, North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve, North Inlet-Winyah Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Rutgers University

Project Slows Down Amount of Stormwater Runoff

Increased stormwater runoff from urbanization is causing nuisance and dangerous street flooding along the North Carolina coast. It’s also the number-one threat to water quality, leading to beach-swimming advisories and shellfish-harvesting closures.

A project team led by the North Carolina Coastal Federation and the North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve applied stormwater reduction techniques to ease the volume entering the Masonboro Sound and local waterways in Wrightsville Beach and Wilmington. The effort included retrofitting sites to divert runoff into grassed or vegetated areas for infiltration, applying green infrastructure practices such as rain gardens and pervious surfaces, and monitoring pre- and post-water quality conditions to determine the project effectiveness. (2016)

More information: www.nerra.org/projects/stormwater-solutions-for-north-carolina

Partners: City of Wilmington, New Hanover County Soil and Water Conservation District, NOAA Office for Coastal Management, North Carolina Coastal Federation, North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve, Town of Wrightsville Beach, University of North Carolina Wilmington

Modeling Future Development for Eastern North Carolina

Civilian and military population growth is impacting natural resource near military installations in eastern North Carolina.

The Southeast Regional Partnership for Planning and Sustainability and the U.S. Geological Survey conducted a study to evaluate historical population growth and model potential growth for the 13-county focus area. Multiple land cover data sets from NOAA and the Geological Survey were used for this task. The study provides a framework for evaluating and ranking easement purchases and other compatible-use opportunities that protect vital ecosystems and promote sustainable economic development around military installations. (2016)

More information: coast.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/stories/modelgrowth

Partners: Department of Defense, NOAA Office for Coastal Management, North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management, Southeast Regional Partnership for Planning and Sustainability, U.S. Geological Survey