The Coastal States Organization represents the nation’s Coastal States, Territories, and Commonwealths on ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resource issues.

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Many services supporting natural disasters, like hurricanes and nor’easters, will continue. Most employees working for FEMA and the National Weather Service are designated as “emergency employees,” meaning they will still provide forecasts and emergency response operations for extreme weather events.

Other functions, however, have been paused. The shutdown limits how federal coastal management tools, such as Digital Coast, can be used for Coastal Management, and delays funds to community Coastal Management projects.

With the exception of observations necessary for weather forecasts, NOAA research programs have been suspended. A meeting scheduled this week between NOAA Fisheries leaders and regional fishery advisory councils was cancelled. The National Flood Insurance Program is not able to renew existing policies or issue new policies during the shutdown. This lapse interrupts home sales in coastal areas and leaves homeowners without flood insurance during hurricane season.

While this year has seen many threats to Coastal Management, the House and Senate’s respective Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriation bills provide flat funding of $81.5 million for coastal management grants. Until the shutdown ends, crucial support for coastal communities will remain on hold.

The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) received its first Coastal Resilience Grant awarded by the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management to evaluate the effects of storms and sea level rise on the Aquinnah Cliffs. The tribe will receive $382,109 to create a model on bluff stability at the Aquinnah Cliffs. The project will be created in association with Tufts University and aims to identify solutions for erosion impacts and seek proactive ways to protect the land. The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) is one of 12 grants totaling $3.8 million to protect the state’s coastline. “With these Coastal Resilience Grant awards, we are investing in solutions to protect housing affordability, business competitiveness and safety in coastal communities,” said Governor Healey in a press release. Read more here.

Jersey Shore Towns Working to Rebuild after Nor’easter Batters Dunes

Towns in the Jersey Shore are scrambling to rebuild following the nor’easter that moved through the East Coast over the weekend and into Monday. The storm pounded the shore, causing coastal flooding that filled the streets with inches of water and brought heavy winds, which caused power outages. Strathmere’s beach is “essentially gone” following this weekend’s nor’easter, according to an Upper Township, New Jersey, administrator. Officials in Strathmere declared a state of emergency Tuesday night. Crews focused on the north end of Strathmere and removed sand that was pushed off the beach onto the streets at Seacliff and Neptune avenues. An Upper Township spokesperson said there are no long-term solutions to the problem right now. Like most coastal communities, Upper Township relies on federal funding for beach replenishment projects. Read more here.

A $4 million federal grant could mean a major expansion for a city-owned coastal Alabama nature preserve. Foley city leadership announced Wednesday that the city will receive the grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It was awarded under a framework established by the Coastal Zone Management Habitat Protection and Restoration Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, known as the BIL. The money will be used to buy property to be added to the city’s Graham Creek Nature Preserve. The preserve, under development since about 2010, now includes around 650 acres and has about 100,000 visitors a year. Read more here.

New Study Links Flood Risk and Hurricane Attributes in Southwest Florida

A recent NOAA-funded study by researchers at the University of Florida’s Coastal & Oceanographic Engineering Program sheds light on the factors behind the devastating flooding caused by Hurricanes Irma and Ian in Collier County, Southwest Florida. The study also demonstrates the value of high-resolution flood models and the importance of good data for building damage or loss. This study shows how the team’s high-resolution flood model can estimate the flooding from historical and potential storms and predict the estimated structural losses from flooding. The team also evaluated how sea level rise and certain hurricane characteristics, such as storm speed, led to structural damage from flooding during Hurricane Ian–a Category 4 storm in 2022–and Hurricane Irma–a Category 3 storm in 2017–to inform future preparedness. The team used a 3D vegetation-resolving surge-wave model, which maps the extent and severity of predicted flooding patterns while incorporating the beneficial contributions of vegetation, like the wave dampening effects of mangroves that reduce overall flooding. Read more here.

Mayors from major cities in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River region, launched a 10-year economic transformation plan on Wednesday, positioning the region as a “Fresh Coast” corridor to capitalize on growing global water scarcity. The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, which involves cities from both the Unites States and Canada, aims to attract 500,000 new sustainable businesses and 18 million jobs by 2035 across the region, while also protecting the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River system. The initiative also includes several sustainability goals, including avoiding any percentage increase in consumptive water loss, improving water quality from “fair” to “good,” and reducing emissions by 300 million metric tons. Collectively the Great Lakes contain more than 20% of the world’s supply of fresh water, providing drinking water for more than 40 million people. The lakes directly generate more than 1.5 million jobs and $60 billion in wages annually, according to the multi-national Great Lakes Commission. Read more here.

What to Know About Michigan Whitefish Crisis, from Limits to Solutions

Few things are as synonymous with the Great Lakes as whitefish. They’re central to the Anishinaabe understanding of creation, kept French explorers alive, and supported a booming fishing industry for generations. But in the span of a few decades, populations have crashed in lakes Michigan and Huron. After freighters brought European mussels to the lakes in the 1980s, thriving ecosystems became deserts. The hungry mussels now blanket the lakebeds from coast to coast, where they have siphoned away the nutrients and plankton, leaving behind desolately clear water with precious little food. The lakes are so transparent that sunlight scorches into their depths, burning baby whitefish alive. Scientists see promise in ongoing research to identify pesticides, parasites or genetic vulnerabilities capable of suppressing the shellfish en masse. But those technologies won’t be perfected for years to decades and public funding for research is meager. Read more here.

The Surfers Point Managed Retreat Project – one of California’s most closely watched coastal restoration efforts – is now in its final stretch. Surfers Point is a playground for swimmers, windsurfers, and kayakers, as well as a key hub for Ventura’s outdoor community. But by the 1990s, heavy erosion had turned the popular stretch into a hazard zone. Crumbling asphalt, damaged utilities, and exposed rebar threatened both beachgoers and the natural shoreline. The solution wasn’t to fight the ocean with more concrete but to back off and let the coastline breathe. Phase I of the project wrapped in 2013 and quickly earned international recognition for its innovative approach: moving infrastructure away from the surf, restoring dunes, and using natural defenses to build resilience. Phase II is now almost complete, backed by a $16.2 million grant from the California State Coastal Conservancy. The latest work includes tearing out the last of the failing infrastructure and rebuilding the shoreline with dunes, native plants, and a buried cobble berm to shield both the city of Ventura and the Fairgrounds from future erosion. Read more here.

Hundreds Participate in Guam’s Largest Beach Cleanup

The 31st annual cleanup was supported locally by Guam Coastal Management Program of the Bureau of Statistics and Plans, in partnership with the Office of the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor’s Islandwide Beautification Task Force. Many individuals, families, schools, businesses, and organizations participated in the event, cleaning up trash across the island. Emilio Repancol, a Guam History teacher at Simon Sanchez High School, said the cleanup is an important event for environmental learning and preservation, teaching students about the significance of taking care of Guam’s shores and reefs. “Prior to the coming of Coastal Cleanup, I was explaining to the students that part of what we’re teaching in Guam History is the creation of the island, and the creation of the island involves significantly on the creation of coral reefs,” Repancol said. “Our coral reef, especially, is the reason why we are safe from tsunamis and floodings, and I was emphasizing that why we clean up our shores is to help our environment not deteriorate so quickly.” Read more here.

The Surfrider Foundation has released the 2025 State of the Beach Report. The report features nine case studies from beaches and coastal areas across the country, including successful coastal restoration in Queens, New York, community-driven planning to identify solutions on beaches experiencing some of the worst erosion rates along the North Shore of O’ahu, comprehensive policy changes to protect Oregon’s iconic beaches, and Surfrider’s gold standard managed retreat and coastal restoration project at Surfers’ Point in Ventura, California. Learn more here.

[NEW] Study: Bulkheads Lead to Salt Marsh Erosion

Researchers found in a recent study that, over the long term, bulkhead structures have a “significant negative effect” on marsh habitat size. Using high-resolution imagery from 1981 of Carteret County’s Bogue and Back sounds and Newport and North rivers, the team measured the marsh extent, or total marsh area, at 45 sites with bulkheads and 45 natural sites, or those without the type of hardened structure. The 1981 measurements were then compared to the data from images collected in 1992, 2006 and 2013 of the same 90 sites. The study found that all 45 bulkhead sites experienced marsh shoreline erosion during the 32-year study period, with complete marsh loss at 11% of the sites with bulkheads. More than 80% of the 45 natural marsh control sites experienced shoreline erosion, but at seven sites, around 15%, the marsh shoreline accreted waterward. None of the control sites experienced complete marsh loss. Learn more here.

Funding Opportunity: $1.45 Billion in Supplemental Economic Funding Available for Disaster Recovery

The United States Economic Development Administration has announced the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for its Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Disaster Supplemental Grant Program. This program makes approximately $1.45 billion available to areas that received major disaster declarations in the calendar years 2023 and 2024 for economic recovery activities. Funds can support both construction and non-construction projects. State and local governments, Native tribes, higher education institutions, public or private non-profit organizations that work with local government, economic development organizations, and public-private partnerships for public infrastructure are eligible. The EDA will fund up to 80% of the project with higher percentages available for severely distressed applications and Tribal organizations. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis until funds are spent for Readiness and Implementation path projects, while Industry Transformation grants will be due March 3, 2026. For more information, contact Rania Campbell-Bussiere.

Funding Opportunity: Fiscal Year 25 Community Assistance Program

The Community Assistance Program – State Support Services Element (CAP-SSSE) program provides funding to states to provide technical assistance to communities in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and to evaluate community performance in implementing NFIP floodplain management activities. Designation, duties and responsibilities of State Coordinating Agencies are found in 44 CFR 60.25. These regulations identify the states commitment to the minimum floodplain management criteria and to demonstrate the capability and responsibility to implement the program. In this way, CAP-SSSE helps to; ensure that the flood loss reduction goals of the NFIP are met, build state and community floodplain management expertise and capability, and leverage state knowledge and expertise in working with their communities. Learn more here.

202-800-0580 | cso@coastalstates.org | www.coastalstates.org