In 2013, Washington Sea Grant and the Washington Department of Ecology received CRest (Coastal Resilience Networks) funding from NOAA to establish the Coastal Hazard Resilience Network in Washington State. The grant contained two primary objectives:

Objective 1: Create a Coastal Hazards Resilience Network in Washington State. Better coordination, integration and understanding of coastal hazards and climate change impacts, as well as multi-hazard planning, preparedness, adaptation, response and recovery are critical needs in Washington State.

• Establish a forum to promote collaboration and the exchange of information and best practices.
• Increase collective capacity to improve the state of coastal community resilience.

The first meeting of the state and federal network partners was on October 29, 2013. Presentations from that meeting are available to the public. 

In February, 2015 the second network meeting took place and highlighted various past and current projects, in addition to future project ideas and opportunities for collaboration. To view some of the presentations from the second network meeting, click here. 

Objective 2: Increase understanding of coastal hazard vulnerability and strengthen local capacity to improve coastal resilience in Southwest Washington. Improved data and tools to understand and assess coastal hazards and climate change impacts are needed for the southwest Washington coast. Local communities lack the capacity, expertise and resources to incorporate hazards data and vulnerability assessments into planning processes and implement adaptation measures.

• Provide resources and training to support the utilization of risk and vulnerability assessments to inform local planning efforts, such as shoreline master programs and hazard mitigation plans in pilot communities.
• Facilitate connection between the state coastal resilience network, local jurisdictions, and non-profit entities engaged in Washington.

Since 2013, Washington Sea Grant and the Department of Ecology have identified and established a network with key representatives from agencies while continually working to enlist appropriate new members. The organic growth of the network has had several benefits that were realized over the last six months. The CHRN has become a useful point of contact for people who are interested in engaging with the state on coastal resilience issues but are not sure where to begin. The Institute for Water Resources (IWR), in conjunction with the US Army Corps of Engineers, was directed to CHRN to discuss their new integrated approach to shoreline development and preservation (which they call Systems Approach to Geomorphic Engineering, or SAGE). Conversations with IWR about SAGE have allowed for more effective collaborations with USACE staff.
 
Most significantly, a concrete opportunity that arose from these meetings was the CHRN collaboration with FEMA on Risk MAP Resiliency meetings (See Objective 2). 

Objective 2: Increase understanding of coastal hazard vulnerability and strengthen local capacity to improve coastal resilience in Southwest Washington.
    
We are currently moving forward with Objective 2 by working with FEMA and other groups of stakeholders by applying their expertise to resilience efforts in WA communities. Risk MAP is FEMA’s new effort to remap coastal flood hazard areas for National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) purposes. As part of Risk MAP, FEMA is also producing county-level multi-hazard vulnerability assessments, which they call Risk Reports. These vulnerability assessments include the Hazus (loss estimation software) results of a magnitude 9 earthquake and/or a local tsunami, as well as modeling of the potential damages from soil liquefaction and flooding. These assessments are being produced by the4 Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for FEMA.

We are beginning with FEMA’s Resiliency meetings this fall at the WA county level, where FEMA RX will share community-specific areas of vulnerability and facilitate discussions surrounding tools and actions to mitigate hazards. On October 23, 2014 the first FEMA Resiliency meeting took place in Aberdeen with attendees from 9 Grays Harbor communities: 

• Ocean Shores 
• Hoquiam 
• McCleary 
• Oakville 
• Aberdeen
• Montesano 
• Elma 
• Cosmopolis 
• Wetsport 

On January 8, 2015 the second FEMA Resilience meeting was held for Pacific County with attendees from Pacific County and the Shoalwater Tribe. The CHRN is moving forward with both Grays Harbor and Pacific Counties to help strengthen local capacity and build resilience in WA coastal communities. FEMA will continue with their Resiliency meetings around Washington State, and information for those meetings will be provided here once released. 

WA Department of Ecology is currently working with both Ocean Shores and Washaway Beach to address the continued challenges of developing management strategies to adapt to the extreme conditions. Ecology is providing technical assistance to analyze shoreline erosion trends, in addition to further research to provide the local government of Washaway Beach with the information to make effective management decisions. For more information on these projects, contact  CHRN members Michael Levkowitz and/or Bobbak Talebi.