NOAA's National Estuary Restoration Inventory (NERI)

The NERI is online and limited project queries are available throughout the Phase I process.  Read below for a description of NOAA's database.  To visit the NERI:

The Gulf of Mexico Region is leading the nation in total acres restored. Most of this acreage is within salt marsh and soft bottom/mud habitats. Click here to compare numbers by region and habitat type.

COMING SOON!! - Projects by State

In the future, the Gulf of Mexico Regional Habitat Restoration Web Portal hopes to keep an updated list of linked projects by state.

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NERI Status, Project Requirements, and Project Approval Process

The National Estuary Restoration Inventory

As part of the Estuary Restoration Act (ERA), NOAA is required to develop and maintain an inventory of estuary restoration projects. The purpose of the inventory is to:

  • provide monitoring and techniques information to advance restoration science
  • track the acres of habitat restored toward the one million acre goal of the Act
  • provide information for reports transmitted to Congress

The inventory contains information on projects funded through the ERA as well as other projects that meet minimum requirements. Project managers are responsible for submitting data to the inventory through a user-friendly web site. Information on projects in the inventory is also available to the public through project searches and reports. In the future, an interactive, GIS-based mapping system will be added to the inventory Web site. Benefits of using NERI for project managers:

  • Track and manage your organization's projects
  • Produce project-specific reports or generate summary reports based on desired criteria
  • Increase public awareness and promote participation in restoration projects
  • Maximize project partnership opportunities
  • Use search capabilities to locate other regional restoration efforts in order to assist in future restoration planning and design

Current Status of the Inventory

Phase 1 of the inventory was launched on February 1, 2021 which includes the web site, data entry screens, and simple search procedures allowing users to view general project information and summary tables. Additional query screens will soon be added to permit more complex project searches.

In the future, enhancements will include an on-line interactive mapping application that will allow users to create and view maps of project site locations. In addition, a series of pre-formatted maps will be available for downloading.

Project Requirements

Restoration projects in the National Estuary Restoration Inventory must meet a number of requirements to be 1) included in the inventory, and/or 2) counted toward the million-acre goal of the Estuary Restoration Act.

To be included in the Inventory, restoration projects must:

  • aim to provide ecosystem benefits for estuaries and their associated ecosystems
  • include monitoring to gauge the success of restoration efforts

To be counted toward the one-million acre goal of the Estuary Restoration Act, restoration projects must (in addition to the requirements above):

  • have begun implementation on or after November 7, 2021 (when the Act was signed into law)
  • have a monitoring plan that meets ERA Council Monitoring Standards
  • not be required by state or federal law (compensatory)

Approval Process

All projects entered into the Inventory will undergo two types of approval procedures. The first procedure occurs when the user fills out the New Project Registration Form, requesting that the project be considered for inclusion in the Inventory. The second procedure occurs once detailed project information is ready to be made available on-line. Because of the lag time involved with the approval process, information submitted to the inventory will not be instantaneously available for searches and reports.

A. New Project Approval Process:

A new or existing Inventory user submits basic information on a project to the inventory using the New Project Registration Form. This form is available when registering for a new username and password and when logging into the Inventory with an existing username and password.

The New Project Registration Form is submitted to the Inventory Administrators for review.

The Inventory Administrators review the project and notify the user of whether the project has been accepted (within 2-3 business days).

If the project is accepted, the user may log into the Inventory and begin entering information for that project.

B. Final Project Approval Process

Projects must undergo a final approval process prior to the information being made available over the web site for searches and project reports. To be considered for the final approval process, projects must have a minimum number of fields complete. These fields include:

  • Project Title and Type of Project
  • Does this project provide ecosystem benefits for estuaries and their associated ecosystems?
  • Does this project include monitoring to gauge the success of restoration efforts?
  • Does this project's monitoring plan meet ERA Council Monitoring Standards?
  • Contact Names, Phone, and e-mail address
  • Date project initiated and Project status
  • Topic sentence, Abstract, Benefits
  • City, County, State, Region, Zip code, Latitude/longitude
  • Project cost estimate
  • Habitat type(s) restored, Restoration techniques, Area monitored, and Monitoring parameters
  • Project Partners

Once these required fields have been completed for the project, the Inventory Administrators will review the project and approve it for use over the web site. If a project is edited after being approved, it must undergo the final approval process again for the updated information to be posted on the web site.