Protect public buildings and natural/constructed infrastructure to reduce physical damage and sustain their function during extreme weather events.

Assessments: 

• The Minnesota State Climatology Office provides data and resources for past weather trends. And the Climate Explorer Tool allows you to visualize both historical climate data and future climate data. 
• The Localized Flood Map Screening Tool from the Metropolitan Council allows users to identify potential surface flooding locations.
• The Storm Events Database can be searched by county for incidents from 1950 to the present.
• Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) models the hydrologic performance of seven specific types of green infrastructure practices for improved storm water management under different climate change scenarios. 
• Minnesota CliMAT is an interactive online tool that provides highly localized climate projections for Minnesota. Users can view climate projections down to the 4km/2.5mile scale across the state, visualizing how even specific towns will likely be impacted in the coming decades.
• Centering Racial Justice in Urban Flood Adaptation: planning and evaluation tools for great lakes cities (University of Michigan, 2021) provides tools and resources for planners and advocates. 
• Wetland preservation is more effective than restoration or replacement. Find wetland benefits and information.  

Investments: 

• The Flood Hazard Mitigation Grant Assistance Program (FHM) provides technical and financial assistance to local government units for reducing the damaging effects of floods for up to 50% of the total cost of a project. The efforts of local governments to enforce their zoning ordinances, to sponsor flood mitigation public improvement projects, and to acquire or relocate flood-prone buildings have significantly helped to reduce risk to lives and flood damages across the state.
• Funding from FEMA includes Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) for pre-disaster hazard mitigation and other specialized funding grants to prepare, respond, and build resilience to disasters in your community. Contact your regional HSEM program coordinator to see if your project for hazard mitigation planning, aquifer storage, floodplain or stream restoration, flood diversion and storage, and green infrastructure might qualify.
• Use a standard for new/renovated buildings/infrastructure: 
  • Fortified Commercial, a national standard for resilient construction from The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety
  • RELi Resilience Standard, combining design criteria with an integrative design process for neighborhoods, buildings, homes and infrastructure, developed in MN and being synchronized with LEED.
• The Green Infrastructure Toolkit details strategies to manage stormwater, reduce urban heat island effects, improve air quality, and promote economic development and other sustainability goals.
• The Hidden Valley Ecological Garden Stream and Floodplain Restoration Project (NC, 2006) used compost to increase organic matter and reduce flooding. See BPA 17.5 for details on compost use in stormwater management.
• The MPCA and University of Minnesota Water Resources Center Clean Sweep Program assists MS4s and local communities in implementing and enhancing their own street sweeping program to help meet water quality goals and prevent storm drains from clogging and flooding. 
• The Naturally Resilient Communities tool provides a set of solutions and case studies that use nature to address flooding.