Year: 2017
Project(s):
Relevance
Coastal communities lack the financial capacity and resources to proactively plan for long-term resilience and adapt to changes related to climate stressors.
Response
Between 2014 and 2017, Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant obtained four separate grants to enhance community resilience. The grants (from the NOAA Regional Coastal Resilience Grant, NOAA Office for Coastal Management, NOAA Coastal Storms Program and Gulf of Mexico Alliance) are managed and led by a joint Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant/Gulf of Mexico Alliance position. Four competitive funding opportunities were released for communities who had completed a self-assessment (the Coastal Community Reslience Inedex) and identified a gap that could be addressed with funding assistance. In addition, Misssissippi led three separate climate adaptation competitions that selected a community implementation project addressing climate stressors.
Results
A total of 20 small grants were awarded to communities across the Gulf of Mexico, and the communities have been integrated into the Gulf of Mexico Climate and Resilience Community of Practice. In addition, the communities commited $225,000 in matching funds making the total project implementation value over $1M. Communities addressed issues in several categories: stormwater management, Community Rating System and insurance, business continuity planning, sea-level rise and future flooding, protect
Recap
Twenty coastal communities received funding to address vulnerabilities and implement on-the-ground projects to enhance their resilience. (2017)