| [NEW] WEDG Professionals Course – No/Reduced Cost Training Interest Form With generous support from the Walton Family Foundation, Waterfront Alliance is sharing access to its popular WEDG Professionals Course. Individuals working on environmental, flooding, or water-related issues in states along the Mississippi River are eligible for the free training. Individuals working at for-profit firms based in or working on environmental, flooding, or water-related projects in states along the Mississippi River. For-profit firms may take the course at a discounted rate of $300. The interest form can be found here. 2026 National Estuaries Week Photo Contest NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management is hosting a photo contest to celebrate National Estuaries Week from September 19 to 27, 2026. Send them your best photos from the National Estuarine Research Reserves that display the beauty of the reserves, critters that live there, and the people who work and play there. Winners will be chosen by a panel of judges and will be featured in their social media campaign during National Estuaries Week. Details for how to enter are located on the contest webpage. California Ocean & Coastal Amateur Photography Contest California is in many ways defined by its coast and ocean. This contest pays tribute to these special places, honors the diversity of wildlife they support, and celebrates access for all. Pictures can feature any of the following subjects: the scenic coast and Pacific Ocean off California, the people of the California Coast, and California ocean and coastal wildlife. Contest entry is free and open to all amateur photographers. Submissions are due by 5pm, September 30, 2026. For more information or questions about entries, contact Lauren.Dung@coastal.ca.gov. Learn more here. FEMA Opens FY26 SWIFT Current NOFO On Jul. 14, FEMA released the Flood Mitigation Assistance Swift Current FY2026 NOFO. $600M is available in expedited funds to states with declared flood disasters between Jun. 1, 2025, and May 31, 2027 to reduce or eliminate the risk of repetitive flood damage to NFIP-insured structures. The new round makes project scoping activities ineligible and allows the consolidation of multiple qualifying disasters activation application periods. Sub-applications must be submitted to state emergency management programs by state-determined deadlines. Seeking Your Expertise: NOAA’s Modeling Consolidation and Modernization Initiative NOAA’s National Ocean Service (NOS) is embarking on a significant initiative to modernize and consolidate our coastal and ocean modeling systems. The goal is to transition toward an authoritative, nationwide, state-of-the-art modeling suite that is more efficient, resilient, and better integrated with NOAA’s broader Unified Forecast System (UFS). To facilitate this, NOAA has released a Request for Information (RFI) to gather community feedback on: - Technical Capabilities: Information on model readiness, including compatibility with high-performance computing (HPC) and cloud environments, as well as opportunities for integrating advanced methods like ML/AI.
- Strategic Vision: Perspectives on long-term design, community governance, and workflows that will strengthen our operational forecasting capabilities.
Please find the link to the RFI here. California Ocean & Coastal Amateur Photography Contest California is in many ways defined by its coast and ocean. This contest pays tribute to these special places, honors the diversity of wildlife they support, and celebrates access for all. Pictures can feature any of the following subjects: the scenic coast and Pacific Ocean off California, the people of the California Coast, and California ocean and coastal wildlife. Contest entry is free and open to all amateur photographers. Submissions are due by 5pm, September 30, 2026. For more information or questions about entries, contact Lauren.Dung@coastal.ca.gov. Learn more here. Funding Opportunity: Fiscal Year 2024 & 2025 Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities The Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant program makes federal funds available to states, U.S. territories, federally recognized tribal governments, and local governments for hazard mitigation activities. It does so by recognizing the need to upgrade and modernize the nation’s infrastructure against the growing risks to communities and the need for natural hazard risk mitigation activities that promote resilience with respect to natural hazards. For this funding opportunity, the program prioritizes investment in infrastructure and construction projects that deliver immediate, measurable risk reduction to communities vulnerable to natural hazards. BRIC emphasizes the adoption and enforcement of modern building codes and limits capability- and capacity-building activities to those directly tied to infrastructure resilience, such as building code adoption and enforcement. Apply here. | 
