Enhancing Benefits Evaluation for Water Resources Projects: Toward a More Comprehensive Approach for Nature-Based Solutions

To accelerate progress and delivery of new and enhanced infrastructure projects for navigation, flood risk management, water operations, and ecosystem restoration consistent with its Engineering With Nature® (EWN) Program, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has engaged in a collaborative effort with The Water Institute of the Gulf (the Institute) to conduct policy research for fully evaluating the benefits of EWN strategies and projects, to include Natural Infrastructure, Natural and Nature Based Features, and other Nature-Based Solutions (NBS)

This report presents the results from six retrospective case studies developed by the collaborative study team based on completed USACE planning studies. The goal is to
demonstrate how USACE could apply new or augmented methods to consider a wider range of social, environmental, and economic benefits and costs when evaluating NBS alongside traditional infrastructure solutions.