February 12, 2024
Washington Sea Grant (WSG) is pleased to announce that it will partner with the Washington state departments of Ecology, Transportation, and Fish and Wildlife to support coastal resilience work as part of a new $850,000 grant. The grant comes from the National Coastal Resilience Fund, a partnership between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
Washington’s 3,300 miles of shoreline along Puget Sound and the Pacific Ocean are home to coastal communities, public infrastructure, and important habitat. In the face of growing coastal hazards like sea level rise, flooding, and erosion, WSG will play a key role in supporting state efforts to protect critical infrastructure, improve community resilience, and advance nature-based solutions.
In particular, the funded project will allow the Washington state Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to update its 2011 climate impacts vulnerability assessment. WSG will provide technical expertise in incorporating new data and tools, including up-to-date local sea level rise projections, into this assessment.
WSG will also join the project team in working with local partners to identify three to six nature-based hazards resilience projects to implement at the community level. WSG will help to develop and implement community and stakeholder workshops toward this goal, as well as serve as a liaison between this project and other sea level rise and climate adaptation projects in Washington state.
This new funding builds on $74.4 million recently awarded by NOAA to the Washington state Department of Ecology for coastal and climate resilience work in Padilla and Willapa bays, as well as NOAA Sea Grant’s recent investments in WSG-led resilience work in coastal and fishing communities, part of $4 million distributed nationwide.
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Washington Sea Grant, based at the University of Washington, helps people and marine life thrive through research, technical expertise and education supporting the responsible use and conservation of coastal ecosystems. The National Sea Grant College Program is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce.
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FEB
2024