NOAA Coastal Storms Program

Ecological Impacts

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The NOAA Coastal Storms Program: Assessing the Ecological Impacts of Stormwater

A central aim of NOAA’s Coastal Storms Program is to enhance the resiliency of coastal ecosystems by improving the ability of local communities to anticipate and reduce the impacts of terrestrial runoff, or stormwater.  Toxic chemicals in stormwater can adversely impact the health of trust resources, including threatened and endangered species of coral, fish, sea turtles, birds, and marine mammals.  This type of non-point source pollution can also degrade the biological integrity of aquatic habitats, thereby limiting the productivity of commercially and recreationally important fish populations.  To address the complex challenges associated with stormwater runoff, the Coastal Storms Program has sponsored collaborations within NOAA as well as new partnerships with academia, non-profit organizations, and federal, state, and local agencies.

The NOAA Coastal Storms Program

Image of storm clouds over sandy beach

Stormy skies over a Florida Gulf Coast beach

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) started the Coastal Storms Program in 2001 in an effort to reduce the adverse impacts of storms on life, property, the economy, and environmental health in coastal areas. To meet this need, NOAA draws upon expertise from across the organization.

The Coastal Storms Program (CSP) determined early on that the best way to accomplish its goals would be to localize the effort through regional pilot projects. Using this approach, the CSP can focus its energies and tailor its products to each pilot region’s specific coastal issues and hazards. The pilot regions are chosen for their representative geographies, while products are chosen, with local user input, to address an area’s needs. Each region has a local outreach and extension lead, typically provided through Sea Grant, to ensure that the improved information and tools gained from the Coastal Storms Program are available to CSP partners and users.

Specifically, CSP’s products and services seek to

  • Focus NOAA’s diverse capabilities to mitigate coastal storm impacts,
  • Address gaps in knowledge and improve coastal decision making related to storm preparation, response, and mitigation,
  • Train local users on products and build local capacity,
  • Increase coastal communities’ ability to anticipate and reduce the ecological impacts of coastal storms, and
  • Increase capability of marine- and coastal-dependent industries and communities to reduce the disruption of commerce due to coastal storms.

A "One NOAA" Approach

NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth’s environment and to conserve and manage coastal and marine resources to meet the Nation’s economic, social and environmental needs.  In order to reflect the interdisciplinary nature of the challenges facing society, NOAA strives to move from the existing line office structure to a more integrated “one NOAA” structure. 

CSP-funded research fosters productive partnerships among the Coastal Services Center, the Northwest Fisheries Science Center, the Office of Response and Restoration, and Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research.  Through these collaborations, NOAA agencies are able to coalesce NOAA research, spatial analysis, data management, and risk communication.