nature-positive infrastructure
At the Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems, we’re broadening the definition of “infrastructure” to include the natural systems that make our planet liveable.
This perspective has led to innovative approaches that include conventional infrastructure (like roads and pipes), hybrid infrastructure (such as levee setbacks) and natural infrastructure (like marshes).
Natural infrastructure, or nature-based solutions, uses natural processes and ecosystem services to support engineering goals, such as reducing damage from floods, or securing safe water supplies.
Natural infrastructure is crucial to ensuring the resilience of human and ecological systems in a changing world (e.g., natural hazards and climate change). Evidence suggests that natural infrastructure can be equally or more cost-effective than conventional infrastructure, and that it has the ability to recover on its own after disasters.
Nature-positive infrastructure builds a more resilient people and planet. Donate now to help fund the cause!
what is natural infrastructure?
Infrastructure is more than roads and pipes; it is also everything from forests, which purify our drinking water, to river floodplains, which reduce damage to homes downstream during floods, to marshes, which protect coastlines from storms.
Natural infrastructure uses natural processes and ecosystem services to support engineering objectives, such as reducing flood damages or securing safe and ample water supplies. Examples of natural infrastructure include marshes and dunes that protect coastal property and infrastructure against storms and erosion, as well as forests and wetlands that reduce river flooding and purify water for downstream communities.
Levee setbacks
Levee setbacks combine the strength of conventional infrastructure with the genius of natural infrastructure. While conventional levees are placed directly next to a river, levee setbacks are placed further from the river, with space for a natural floodplain to form between the river and levee. They reduce flooding in towns and cities both upstream and downstream by allowing the water to spread out over a greater area.
Dunes
When placed alongside bodies of water, such as lakes and oceans, dunes provide many benefits. They absorb “wave action” or the force of the waves that could otherwise cause erosion and damage to property, and naturally reduce flooding and storm surges. They also provide habitat for animals, including seabirds and turtles.
Natural shorelines
Natural shorelines are rocky stretches of shore that are installed to mimic a natural shoreline. They reduce the force of the waves, prevent storm surges, and serve as habitat and convenient spots to go for walks or spot wildlife.
coastal resilience
Coasts and salt marshes provide vital ecosystem services to the entire world, not just our coastal regions. From marine hydrology to flood forecasting, IRIS researchers are helping keep our heads above water when it comes to climate change.
Coastline Flood Monitoring for Disaster Risk & Recovery
Effects of Sea Level Rise in Mississippi Sound
Coastal zones have their own form of natural infrastructure, which we work to conserve and expand: sand dunes. When placed alongside bodies of water, dunes absorb wave action, which could otherwise cause erosion or destruction of property, and naturally reduce flooding and storm surges, in addition to providing habitat for sea birds and turtles.
Handbook: Nature-based Solutions for Biodiversity (Coastal Edition)
Tybee Island Climate Resilience Plan
rivers and riverine infrastructure
Freshwater ecology and conservation play a big role in infrastructure projects like bridges, dams, and more. We work with freshwater specialists, environmental engineers and natural resource managers to preserve these critical ecosystems.
Part of our vision is thriving natural systems, in addition to the communities and businesses they support. Freshwater ecosystems, especially in the Southeast, are critical natural resources that we aim to conserve and study not just in addition to, but as a crucial part of our infrastructure projects.
Understanding Infrastructure and Hydrology
Impacts of Urban Systems on Watershed Biochemistry
Levee Setbacks for Biodiverse Floodplains
Levee Setbacks: A Legal, Regulatory and Policy Primer
Levee Setbacks
Levee setbacks are increasingly popular in the field of nature-based solutions. We’re working to understand how to best implement them and what they’re capable of.
stormwater and water Quality
From major floodplains to your kitchen sink, IRIS researchers are on the job to explore and understand our relationship with water infrastructure. We use a total-ecosystem perspective to ask questions about stormwater, flood risk, wastewater and more.
Natural Infrastructure Scales to Mitigate Flood Hazards
Mapping Flood Vulnerability in the Savannah Metro Area
Community-Enabled Lifecycle Analysis of Stormwater Infrastructure Costs (CLASIC)
Smart Septic Strategies
How Wastewater Infrastructure Impacts Ecosystems
scaling up nature-based solutions
Nature-based solutions are a new field, and there’s a lot of work to be done. IRIS researchers are investigating the potential of these solutions, how they work, and how best to implement them. Much of this work is done in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as well as other nonprofit, governmental and corporate partners through the Network for Engineering With Nature (N-EWN).
Education and Barriers to Natural Infrastructure
Holistic Monitoring for Natural Infrastructure
Characterizing Army Corps of Engineers NI Projects
IRIS researchers use engineering, ecological and socioeconomic expertise to expand our definition of infrastructure to address environmental problems.
