Rigorously valuing the role of U.S. coral reefs in coastal hazard risk reduction

This report follows risk-based valuation approaches to map flood zones at 10-squaremeter resolution along all 3,100+ kilometers of U.S. reef-lined shorelines for different storm probabilities to account for the effect of coral reefs in reducing coastal flooding. The report quantifies the coastal flood risk reduction benefits provided by coral reefs across storm return intervals using information from the U.S. Census Bureau, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Bureau of Economic Analysis to identify their annual expected benefits, a measure of the annual protection provided by coral reefs. 

U.S. coral reefs can save 18,000 lives and $1.805 billion annually in flood risk reduction. These data provide stakeholders and decision makers with spatially explicit, rigorous valuation of how, where, and when U.S. coral reefs provide critical coastal storm flood reduction benefits. The overall goal is to reduce U.S. coastal communities' risk and increase their resiliency.