Collaborative Climate Change Adaptation: A Case Study of Army Corps Coastal Protection Projects

As the climate warms, governments in the U.S. are attempting toincrease the resilience of populations and physical environments to theimpacts of higher temperatures. This article analyzes the efforts of the U.S.Army Corps of Engineers to design and build coastal protectioninfrastructure, such as seawalls, storm surge barriers, and nature-basedapproaches, as an example of intergovernmental collaboration to adaptto climate change. The Army Corps’ unique model of project developmentrequires it to study and construct projects with a non-federal sponsor thatis typically a state or local government. The article makes three mainpoints about the Army Corps’ nascent efforts to address increased risks ofcoastal flooding. First, it emphasizes that major urban areas along theeastern and southern seaboards, such as Boston, Miami-Dade, and NewYork City, are seeking to use the Army Corps to build coastal protectioninfrastructure to mitigate flood risks that are increasing with climatechange. Second, the article characterizes the Corps’ coastal protectionprojects as a decentralized form of inter-jurisdictional collaboration toadapt to climate change. Third, the article argues that the decentralizeddevelopment of coastal protection on a project-by-project basis should becomplemented by periodic regional- or national-level analyses of coastalflood risks. Looking closely at actual efforts to adapt highlights theimportance of considering whether adaptation should be undertaken in amore decentralized or centralized manner as the need to adapt to warmingtemperatures increases.