All Natural (Part I): Natural & Nature-Based Features

Image: Predictions of coastal sea-level rise of 2 feet in the Albemarle-Pamlico region. 

The goal of the project is to facilitate a win-win situation for both natural and human landscapes, “by increasing the use of natural and nature-based features by local governments as a solution to mitigating storm-driven flooding,” explains APNEP Policy and Engagement Manager Stacey Feken. The NNBF project accomplished this by using interactive maps, fact sheets, and coastal resilience summaries to show local governments how protection of natural marshes, forests, and dunes, and the use of nature-based features such as living shorelines, can result in lower flood insurance costs for home and business owners in the community in addition to flood mitigation benefits.  

One flood insurance program focused on by the project was the FEMA National Floodplain Insurance Program’s Community Rating System (CRS). “You receive a score based on the combined practices and programs your community has implemented,” says Mason. The lower CRS class ratings (on a scale from 1-10), the greater the reduction in flood insurance premiums for local governments and therefore the constituents in their locality. Although many local government officials are aware of these programs, time and resource constraints often prohibit them from taking full advantage of t​h​em. However, "The Community Rating System is very popular with property owners” notes Ross Weaver, the Program Assistant Director for Wetlands Watch, a non-profit based in Norfolk, VA who was a collaborator on the project. Ross says this is because the CRS “provides property owners with a direct benefit in the form of a discount on flood insurance premiums. One of the highest scoring activities is preservation of open space within the floodplain, so any tool that makes it easier for local government staff to identify those opportunity areas and increase their CRS points can be extremely valuable.” 

The VIMS NNBF mapping tool aims to change that by helping local governments to easily identify and prioritize the conservation of NNBFs that provide the most flood mitigation services for their communities, as well as to see which areas would benefit from the construction of new NNBFs such as living shorelines or riparian buffers. “You have this two-pronged approach,” says Mason, “one is to prioritize existing NNBFs for protection, and then the other is to identify places where projects can go on the ground to improve coastal resilience.” 

The project also incorporates other ecosystem services provided by NNBFs, such as water quality protection, that allow communities to receive credit for features that provide stormwater control through reduction in nutrients and sediment loading.  These credits can assist local governments with meeting regulatory requirements including the Chesapeake Bay Resource Protection Area buffers to protect water quality in adjacent water bodies. Natural and nature-based features, along with other services such as habitat for wildlife and recreation opportunities, allow localities to receive multiple benefits from protecting and restoring natural areas.         

Weaver points out that the greatest benefit of AdaptVA is that it combines multiple different resource to be viewer an individual map. Weaver adds “This layered approach allows users to visualize data in a way that facilitates planning for multiple benefits based on environmental factors like water quality and habitat protection, but also considerations for the built environment, such as proximity to critical infrastructure, potential for flood mitigation, and social vulnerability.”