Resilience Action Demonstration Project

The Washington Coast Resilience Action Demonstration Project (RAD) was a two-year (2019-2021) partnership between the Washington State Department of Ecology and Washington Sea Grant that provided multi-organizational hazards assistance to communities on the Pacific Coast of Washington and laid the groundwork for future coastal resilience efforts.

Funded by NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management, the RAD was a direct response to urgent needs voiced by coastal communities and Tribes to help them build local capacity to address coastal hazards issues while strengthening the long-term social, economic, and ecological resilience of the Pacific Coast. The RAD demonstrated how the state can help rural communities access funding opportunities and also played a key role in informing the Washington Coastal Marine Advisory Council (WCMAC) coastal resilience recommendations to the Governor in July 2021.

Background: Hazards Resilience on the Pacific Coast

The environmental and economic health of the communities and Tribes of the Pacific Coast is of fundamental importance to the state, but coastal natural hazards have long posed severe problems for the region. Planning and preparing for these hazards is a considerable challenge. Climate change impacts, regional economic conditions, and the systemic barriers faced by these small, rural communities are making hazards resilience efforts increasingly more difficult.

For many years, the communities and Tribes of Washington’s Pacific Coast have expressed a dire need for the state to help address the growing severity of natural hazards, which include flooding, erosion, sea level rise, and an impending Cascadia earthquake and tsunami event. Although there have been many efforts and investments to respond to disaster events, communities on the Pacific Coast lack sufficient resources to undertake comprehensive planning efforts to support longer-term resilience. These communities face disproportionate risks and impacts from natural hazards, while local staff and community leaders are stretched thin by pressing near-term needs.

Despite these challenges, communities are identifying many potential projects and planning efforts that would address current hazards and long-term risks while bringing additional socioeconomic benefits to the region. To take the next step, community members recommend enhancing state agency community assistance programs to help local staff and leaders refine project scopes, access new funding opportunities, and move their ideas off the shelf and onto the shore. Their message is clear: additional permanent capacity and well-coordinated state agency support will assist local communities in building a thriving, resilient future for the Pacific Coast.

A Multi-Organizational Approach to Hazards Resilience

The RAD team piloted a priority recommendation from coastal communities to establish a “Coastal Hazards Organizational Resilience Team,” or COHORT (see the 2017 Washington State Coast Resilience Assessment), to enhance and integrate coastal hazards resilience initiatives while providing hands-on assistance to communities to scope local projects and apply for funding. To do so, staff members at Ecology and Washington Sea Grant worked closely with other state and federal agencies and with the leadership of local governments, coastal Tribes, conservation districts, community organizations, and other state and federal agencies.

The scope of work for the RAD included three stages:

1. Lay the groundwork for developing collaborative coastal hazards resilience projects. The RAD team identified potential coastal hazards projects, created a framework for supporting resilience through these projects, and strengthened valuable relationships with staff and leaders from coastal communities and Tribes.

2. Deliver coordinated, multi-organizational support to jointly produce resilience projects. The RAD team tested the COHORT concept by delivering a package of collective technical assistance and other forms of support to help three communities scope hazards resilience projects and submit grant proposals. Funding was secured to support projects in all three communities, resulting in $845,000 in federal funds and local investments for hazards resilience planning and project development across Washington’s Pacific Coast.

3. Assess the process and identify additional opportunities for supporting coastal hazards resilience. Working with local, state, federal and Tribal collaborators and the Governor’s Washington Coastal Marine Advisory Council (WCMAC), the RAD team identified a series of recommendations for improving coastal hazards resilience. They focus on increasing local capacity for hazards resilience work and better coordinating state hazards resilience assistance to coastal communities and Tribes.

The RAD team works with the Wahkiakum County Marine Resources Committee to identify coastal hazards issues and undertake initial project scoping work (Photo by Tressa Arbow).