Options Database

Use FireWise toolkit/certifications to increase public awareness on Wildland Urban Interface areas

Use flood walls, levees, floodways or diversions to control and direct floodwaters. Adopt holistic strategies that minimize upstream and downstream impacts.

Use Food Chain Reactors (FCR) to treat urban wastewater. FCRs combine conventional treatment methods with biological treatment provided by the roots of 2,000-3,000 plant species. This method treats water to high quality standards. FCRs are a decentralized approach that manages wastewater on a neighborhood scale using small, odor-free facilities. The decentralized approach helps to avoid the risk of sewer overflows and burst pipes during heavy rain.

Use green infrastructure in public spaces and streets to reduce stormwater runoff in historically underserved neighborhoods.

Use integrated watershed management to reduce flood and drought risks. Integrated watershed management is a planning strategy meant to coordinate development to maximize the social, economic and environmental management of water resources and uses.

Use local climate projection data to understand the risk of failing culverts in future years. Weigh the economic, societal and environmental costs against the benefits of installing new culverts.

Use more compact development and other techniques to increase housing affordability, which boosts household and community resilience.

Use more compact development and other techniques to increase walkability and accessibility, which increases transportation options during climate hazards, decreases transportation cost burden and supports baseline public health.

Use natural bank stabilization techniques or revetments or hardened materials atop riverbanks or slopes to protect against floods.

Use nature-based solutions to improve resilience while promoting biodiversity.

Use overlay zones to promote watershed-based development ordinances.

Use overlay zones in your land use regulations to encourage or require safer development in the areas most at risk from climate change impacts.

Use pavement materials that can withstand extreme heat and high temperatures.

Use reclaimed water (highly treated wastewater effluent) for appropriate uses such as irrigation, cooling towers and toilet flushing.

Use scenario-based community workshops to gain key insights on community needs and priority project areas.

Use a social or racial equity index as part of wastewater management plans to prioritize improvements.

Use the best available science and resilient design features in transportation infrastructure to improve resiliency to extreme climate events.

Use the State of North Carolina's recommended temperature thresholds to trigger heat response activities that support community preparedness, especially for frontline communities.

Use the transfer of development rights method to allow developers to increase densities on parcels with low flood risk in return for keeping flood-prone areas vacant.

Use vegetative cover to help stabilize slopes, reduce slope failure and minimize waterbody sedimentation.