Briefing Book
Healthy Ocean and Coasts Briefing Book
January 28, 2025
Issue Area
Coastal Resilience
Overview
Roughly 40% of the U.S. population lives in coastal counties. Sea level rise and the increasing frequency and strength of severe weather events have become major challenges for coastal communities, where flooding has caused billions of dollars in damage to both natural and built infrastructure. Disproportionate impacts will be felt by low-income communities and communities of color, and can exacerbate existing social inequities.
Building on federal programs like NOAA’s Coastal Zone Management Act — which provides matching funds to states and local governments to develop coastal protection programs — many state legislatures have established task forces focused specifically on creating resilient coastlines. These projects include flood and storm-resilient infrastructure, impeding coastal erosion, and rebuilding, protecting, and preserving natural flood buffers like wetlands.
Key Facts
Regional collaborations among states, such as the Atlantic Conservation Coalition, are projected to restore over 40,000 acres of coastal wetlands and reduce over 28 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent by 2050.
States like South Carolina have established Offices of Resilience, which are tasked with developing statewide resilience plans to guide investments in flood mitigation and the adoption of programs to protect people and property from extreme weather events.
Coastal ecosystems can also provide cheaper and more effective shoreline protection than sea walls. Each year, coral reefs provide an estimated $10.9 billion of flood protection, and mangrove forests provide an average of $65 billion of flood protection.
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