Coastal and Nature-Based Solutions

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Institute for Water Resources (IWR) Coastal and Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) Programs Team provides planning resources, develops technical and policy expertise and builds collaborative relationships in support of the USACE portfolio of programs, initiatives, and strategies. The team creates and maintains a suite of programs, initiatives, tools, and reports to develop approaches to sustain and improve the resilience of coastal and inland communities. The team also seeks to advance the use of NBS for water resource infrastructure and environmental resources. Our team develops and nurtures collaborative partnerships and informs the public on ways to sustain and improve the environmental, social, cultural, and economic interests of the nation’s water resources.

Who We Are

Our nation’s coastal and riverine environments are vulnerable to a variety of evolving storm and weather-related risks. The Coastal and NBS Programs Team is well suited to address these risks by providing knowledgeable and skilled resources within USACE and to our federal, state, and local, academic, and nongovernmental partners.


Regional and National Focus	Enterprise Level Management	NBS Support	Cross-Disciplinary Expertise	External Collaboration
The team supports regional approaches to research, tool development, and policy strategies. It also uses a whole-of-government approach to provide a holistic lens for addressing diverse and interconnected coastal and watershed issues.	USACE’s coastal portfolio spans many divisions, centers, and districts. The team develops solutions that can be applied across all levels of the enterprise. The team also fosters a strong relationship with the Army via direct engagement with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works.	The team develops resources to promote sustainable NBS practices in support of USACE’s goal to integrate NBS into projects and programs	The team provides a diverse, interdisciplinary approach to addressing water resources problems using engineering, planning, ecology, communications, and policy knowledge, skills, and abilities.	Through developing and nurturing a growing network of international, national, regional, and local coastal representatives, the team connects USACE with other specialists who provide the knowledge, data, and tools necessary to assess the social, cultural, environmental, and economic challenges our coasts and watershed environments face.

What We Do

How We Do It

The Coastal and NBS Programs Team develops forward-thinking strategies that enable USACE to adapt to new and uncertain challenges facing our nation’s coasts and watersheds using holistic, comprehensive, and science-based approaches to reducing coastal risk and increasing community and environmental resilience. This is accomplished by:

	Expanding the knowledge exchange and capability among practitioners.
	Identifying needs and challenges and establishing efforts to address challenges.
	Creating a structure of informed decision-making.

The team manages water resource risks through the development of trusting and productive relationships, collaborating with experts in the field and learning from their differing views and perspectives.

Program Initiatives


National Shoreline Management Study (NSMS)	Systems Approach to Geomorphic Engineering (SAGE)	Coastal Storm Damages Prevented (CSDP)	Coastal Systems Portfolio Initiative (CSPI)	Outreach and Coordination

Coastal Storm Damages Prevented (CSDP)

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Coastal Storm Damages Prevented (CSDP) tool provides USACE project managers, planners, coastal engineers, and economists the capability to develop regional and national assessments of damages reduced by USACE Coastal Storm Risk Management (CSRM) projects. CSDP allows USACE to report the benefits of USACE CSRM projects to technical experts and decision makers, USACE leadership, Congress, and the public.

The CSDP tool provides USACE with a consistent approach for assessing damages prevented by CSRM projects. CSDP has two parts: Annual CSDP Reporting and What-if Scenario Analysis.

Annual CSDP reporting estimates damages prevented by a CSRM project for storms for a reporting year. Input consists of data describing the project, storm characteristics, damage functions, and structure information. The analysis applies the same storm and structure inventory to the with- and without-project conditions. Damages are calculated at the structure level. Damages prevented are the difference between total damages with and without the project being in place.

Outputs are used to inform Congress of CSRM project benefits in the Annual Flood Damage Report to Congress. Outputs are available at different spatial levels (census block group, census tract, and then USACE Districts, Divisions, and/or the national boundaries).

What-if Scenario Analysis adds features and flexibility that allow for rapid screening-level examination of planned or existing CSRM project performance under different conditions such as alternative designs and/or project modifications, or consideration of a range of natural hazard risks and predicted future conditions at a project location.

Outreach and Coordination

The USACE IWR Coastal and Nature-Based Solutions Programs Team works with a variety of internal agencies and external multi-interest groups and organizations. These entities represent a sample of team outreach and engagement points of contact and their efforts.