Blog | How WRDA 2024 advances climate resilience policy

Big funding bills like the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) have justly received the lion’s share of attention for their unprecedented investments in climate adaptation and resilience (as well as clean energy and emissions reduction).  However, they are not the only climate adaptation legislation President Biden will sign worth paying attention to. 

The Thomas R. Carper Water Resources Development Act of 2024 (WRDA 2024), passed Wednesday night and on its way to President Biden for signature, like every Biennial Water Resources development Act, is something those focused on climate adaptation must pay attention to. WRDA bills (passed every few years) authorize large scale, multibillion dollar federal Army Corps of Engineers flood mitigation and environmental restoration projects and other programs to protect ecosystems and advance environmental restoration and flood risk management. 

First, some topline numbers: WRDA 2024 authorizes 21 new Army Corps construction projects and over 200 feasibility studies. It authorizes more than $14 billion in water infrastructure projects, with nearly $10 billion in federal investments specifically targeting climate resilience, flood control and ecosystem restoration.

Studies

Beyond project-specific authorizations, WRDA 2024 authorizes several Government Accountability Office (GAO) led studies that could inform how the federal government approaches climate adaptation. For example, a comprehensive study of “nature-based features” (Section 1244) will examine institutional barriers preventing their broader adoption, evaluate their performance during extreme weather events, and identify obstacles from staff expertise to cost considerations. This study will provide an assessment of how natural infrastructure (projects that use, restores, or emulates natural ecological processes; think wetland restoration, living shorelines, and vegetated swales) performs under climate stresses and what prevents its wider implementation.

Another new study (Section 1244(o)) will examine how the Corps incorporates ecosystem restoration into flood control projects. The study will evaluate geographic distribution, benefit-cost analyses, and long-term community benefits to help prioritize ecosystem restoration as a flood management tool. WRDA 2024 also authorizes a comprehensive study of Corps disaster spending and response activities from 2004-2023 (Section 1244(k)). This study will examine post-disaster expenditures, funding patterns, and how resources are transferred and utilized for disaster response. A parallel study (Section 1244(q)) will analyze coordination between the Army Corps and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) since 2014, examining how the Corps supports FEMA missions through data sharing, methodological advice, and analysis for floodplain mapping, flood insurance (including Risk Rating 2.0), and evaluation of both structural and non-structural flood risk reduction projects.

Interagency Collaboration on Flood Risk Solutions

WRDA 2024 also strengthens the Army Corps’ institutional capacity by continuing the Silver Jackets program (Section 1114), which establishes interagency teams working together on flood risk management. The Silver Jackets have been widely praised as a model for effective coordination of joint federal/state/local projects in flood-prone communities.

Program Authorizations

WRDA 2024 also creates new frameworks for climate adaptation. The legislation authorizes:

• A new national coastal mapping program to provide recurring mapping of coastlines to support navigation, flood risk management, environmental restoration, and emergency operations projects. (Section 1123). 

• The incorporation of forecast-informed reservoir operations (FIRO) when updating  water control manuals for Army Corps reservoirs to take advantage of scientific improvements in forecasting atmospheric weather events to better anticipate and manage large storm events. (Section 1162), 

• The inclusion of water supply and water conservation as a primary mission of the Corps of Engineers in planning, designing, constructing, modifying, operating, and maintaining water resources development projects in Arizona, California, and Nevada  that allows the Army Corps to update the water control manual for a water supply project to include drought operations and contingency plans. This provision expands the Army Corps mission to deal with climate-exacerbated drought in the southwest.(Section 1164).

• A new Army Corps Continuing Authority Program (CAP) for stormwater management projects that control, retain, and reuse stormwater associated with flood control efforts. This legislation prioritizes actions that improve urban flood control efforts, including through the management of stormwater and those that seek to incorporate nature-based solutions. (Section 1108)

While WRDA may not show up on many year-end lists of “Big Climate Bills of 2024,” its combination of major infrastructure investment and policy initiatives includes important actions related to climate adaptation and resilience. Those interested in how the government is responding to climate-driven flood risks will want to pay attention to the implementation of WRDA 2024 and future Water Resource Development Acts.

View the full bill text 

Read a section-by-section bill summary