Understanding How Risk Perception Affects Nature-based Solutions
Natural infrastructure represents an important alternative to traditional forms of infrastructure such as sea walls and levees. However, infrastructure managers are often influenced by perceived risks, including societal expectations and legal exposure, when considering nature-based solutions. Increasing the acceptance of nature-based solutions requires a better understanding of how risk perception factors into infrastructure decision making. […]
Incorporating Social Equity Into Nature-based Solutions
Whether they are natural, manmade or a combination of the two, infrastructure projects for managing water resources are not always distributed evenly across time, space, or populations. Infrastructure managers bear a responsibility for ensuring all members of a community are being fairly served by infrastructure choices. To support sustainable nature-based solutions, these managers need a […]
Analyzing Natural Feature Performance During Disasters
Significant hurricanes such as Katrina in 2005 and Harvey in 2016 revealed importantdisparities in how communities recover from extreme events. Although naturalinfrastructures may provide as much protection as conventional infrastructure, methodsfor objectively assessing the performance of natural features under hurricane conditionsare not well established. Objective We aim to document current practices for disaster monitoring and […]
Developing and Implementing a Holistic Framework for Monitoring Natural Infrastructure Projects
Large infrastructure projects represent important investments. To ensure that they function as intended throughout their lifespan, they often include monitoring programs. Innovative nature-based solutions have the potential to efficiently provide multiple services for societal benefits at lower cost than conventional infrastructure. However, we are still learning how to design projects to maximize these benefits and […]
Maximizing Benefits by Selecting the Best Scale for Natural Infrastructure Implementation
Natural infrastructure is thought to provide “win-win” outcomes for both ecosystems and communities by providing habitat for key species, recreation opportunities to community members, and protection from severe weather events, among other benefits. However, it is difficult to quantify these benefits from engineering and ecological performance perspectives at larger scales — such as those for […]
Characterizing US Army Corps of Engineers Natural Infrastructure Projects
When choosing between different projects, the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is required to assess multiple alternative plans and select the alternative that maximizes net benefits. In many cases, by law, one of those alternatives assessed must be a project that incorporates natural infrastructure (NI). However, comparing the net benefits of traditional engineering plans […]
Natural Infrastructure Project Evaluation Processes: Past, Present and Future Evaluation Metrics
Objective/Background This project will describe the evaluation methods for the benefits of natural infrastructure projects conducted by the US Army Corps of Engineers® (USACE), and will discuss how those methods may evolve through time. It will also assess the processes used by other public and private entities who develop natural infrastructure projects in the United […]
Optimal EWN solutions for wetland remediation: a FUNWAVE-based numerical framework
Testing EWN® alternatives is difficult because of the large range of spatio-temporal scales involved. Theproject will develop a high-resolution, multiscale numerical simulation platform based on the FUNWAVETVD model for investigating the effectiveness of wetland EWN® solutions. The platform will incorporate all relevant wetland physics, and will be applicable to a wide range of USACE wetland […]
Investigation of Ecological Drivers of Dune Stability to Inform Restoration Design and Management Guidance
Coastal dune vegetation is known to modify dune ecosystem response to wind, waves, and storms, but little focus has been given to understanding how vegetation, specifically belowground structures can enhance dune stability. Further, coastal dune plant communities can be diverse and may have similarly diverse restoration histories. However, little is known about how different species […]
Determining the Scales for Natural Infrastructure to Mitigate Coastal and Riverine Flood Hazards
Traditional approaches to reducing the risk of coastal and riverine floods include the construction of conventional infrastructure (CI) such as levees and floodwalls. Over the last decade, there has been a push towards Engineering With Nature (EWN) and the use of natural infrastructure (NI) (wetlands, barrier islands, coastal dunes, forest, riparian buffers) into resiliency and […]
