Navigating Deep Waters: ISG Environmental Professionals Support Climate Resiliency in the Great Lakes

Environmental scientists at ISG work to improve our world’s waterways, including in the Great Lakes, to make a positive impact on our environment and create a better tomorrow. Equipped with the resources, tools, and expertise to dive deep into complex water challenges, our environmental professionals and water resource engineers discover solutions and processes that change the way we interact with and improve the Great Lakes now and into the future.

Overview: Great Lakes Coastal Resilience Initiative

Many coastal communities are in rural areas or have smaller populations, thus not having the resources or tools needed to fund or execute these large projects. Starting in 2019, Julie and Paul have facilitated workshops for the communities that line the coast of the Great Lakes. The workshops offer resources and knowledge that cities need to complete successful Great Lakes projects like water quality improvement, protection, and plant and habitat restoration to improve habitat and coastal resiliency.

Specifically, the team fosters conversations, provides case studies, and walks through activities with communities to share how they can implement and secure funding for Great Lakes projects. This facilitation levels the playing field for communities of all sizes to complete critical water projects that once seemed infeasible. The metrics used to identify equitable opportunities include:

Climate and economic justice screening tool results

• Community resilience score, the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s national risk index
• Esri’s community analyst and business summary reports

Impact On Cities To Improve The Great Lakes

With plans to span the Great Lakes’ eight coastal states, the team has collaborated with nearly 15 communities to improve Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, and Lake Superior. ISG’s current coastal engineering projects are taking place in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Indiana and include climate resiliency design solutions. These efforts have sprouted from visioning and facilitation and grown into implementable, technical projects that are supported by ISG’s multi-disciplinary team.Working to create a better, safer, and sustainable future is at the core of what we do. ISG’s environmental scientists and engineers are driven by our surroundings each day to find new possibilities that yield more resilient coastlines for our environment and the communities that call them home. Striving to understand the Great Lakes and how to care for them, we make a difference for a healthier tomorrow, today.

Key Takeaways

• Implementation Opportunities for Economically Disadvantaged Communities
• Prioritized Habitat Restoration Work
• Climate Resiliency Design
• Coastal Engineering Solutions
• Solutions for A Sustainable Future

Explore ISG’s urban stormwater, rural surface water, drinking water, wastewater, and natural resources projects.‍

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Blog authors: Julie Blackburn, CFM and Paul Marston, CFM