Managed Retreat Toolkit

Planning Tools

Planning will be a critical component of managed retreat strategies. A diversity of plans can be used as a strategic and guiding mechanism to proactively evaluate and implement actions for managed retreat to maximize benefits and minimize costs for multiple stakeholders and the environment. Comprehensive managed retreat strategies will ideally consist of plans and a combination of infrastructure, acquisition, regulatory, and market-based tools.

All plans should be developed through highly participatory public processes that provide interested stakeholders with an opportunity to meaningfully engage and inform the plan’s development. Furthermore, governments should coordinate across agencies and clearly link different plans that include elements of managed retreat.

A panoramic birds-eye view of flooding in Houston. Full streets and parks are submerged, and building, trees, and streetlights poke up out of the water.

Flooding at Studemont Street and Buffalo Bayou in Houston from 2016.
Credit: Harris County Flood Control District.

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