Last spring, Dr. Todd Bridges and his colleagues were visiting a part of the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge in California, a remote re- gion that encompasses 45,000 acres of rivers, woodlands, wetlands, and grasslands. Over the years, the refuge has experienced flooding many times. Bridges, who heads the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s Engineering With Nature initiative, was there to see how the refuge and associated restoration was working as a nature-based solution for flood risk reduction. He was pleased with the results that included the restoration of 7,000 acres of floodplain habitat through a combination of conventional, natural, and nature-based engineering features. Conventional features including levees and pump stations and natural features including the planting of 600,000 native trees. While touring the project, Bridges came across a group of men who traveled several hours to visit the refuge for the first time. He asked them what they thought, and one man said, “It looks prehistoric and heavenly. We’re visiting what we’re losing … it's painful too.” Bridges understood. He’s spent much of his career researching how conventional and nature-based engineering features can be used to- gether in projects to provide storm risk reduction, maintain wildlife habitats, provide recreational space, and most importantly to maintain the natural resources cherished by so many. He said, “People need nature. Concrete can’t satisfy all of the needs people have. Projects that include natural engineering features also provide social benefits.” Bridge’s research is helping to make the Army Corps an international leader in the use of natural and nature-based engineering features. Many are benefitting, including the Army Corps’ New York District that has experienced extensive coastal flooding and is increasing the use of these features in its projects. Natural and nature-based engineering features are landscape features used in combination with conventional engineering features. Natural U.S. Army Corps of Engineers leads the way in natural solutions for coastal flooding New York & New Jersey By JoAnne Castagna, Ed.D.
Team visiting the successful Elders West marsh island restoration project in Jamaica Bay, New York. Photo: USACE.
features occur naturally in the landscape and Nature-based features are engineered, constructed, or restored to mimic natural conditions. Examples of these features include beaches and dunes; vegetated environ- ments, such as maritime forests, salt marshes, freshwater wetlands, fluvial flood plains, and seagrass beds; coral and oyster reefs; and barrier islands. “By combining something natural and nature-based with something conventional, we make the system better overall. This is nature sup- porting engineering and engineering supporting nature,” said Bridges. He said for example, when a concrete flood wall is designed to include an expansive reef and marsh in front of it, the wall provides flood pro - tection benefits during storms while the reef and marsh system reduce the power of waves, can grow with sea level rise, captures carbon, improves water quality, and provides recreational opportunity. The combination is better than either of them separate. The Army Corps has been working with natural and nature-based features for years, but recently there’s increased interest due to climate change. On Earth Day in April 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden issued Executive Order 14072: Strengthening the Nation’s Forests, Communities, and Local Economies , which directs to take multiple actions designed to tackle the climate crisis, make our nation more resilient to extreme weather, and strengthen local economies, including focusing consider- able attention and federal effort on nature-based solutions. As a result, Bridges and other Army Corps staff worked with the White House to develop a report on how the federal government can accel - erate the use of nature-based solutions. In addition, the Army Corps with collaborators recently released a set of guidelines for how to use natural and nature-based features. The award-winning guide called, " International Guidelines on Natural and Nature-Based Features for Flood Risk Management" involved 5 years of collaboration with scientists and engineers from around the world and is one of the first guidelines of its kind. These guidelines are now being used by engineers inside and outside the Army Corps including those with the Army Corp’s New York District.
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April 2023
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