Dates: Held January 21-23, 2026

Location: Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL

This third of five Advancing the Integration of Clean Water Act and Natural Hazard Mitigation Planning and Implementation project workshops was held January 21-23, 2026 at the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. The workshop aimed to facilitate collaborative partnerships and build cross-governmental relationships and awareness of what is going on in different departments, agencies, and at various levels of government in terms of hazard mitigation and water resource protection planning and program development. Participating state and local attendees included those from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas. The workshop brought participants together with a cadre of leaders in the fields of water and hazards management to discuss floodplains, wetlands, and green infrastructure, integrated planning, local permitting & regulations, land use planning, hydrologic and hydraulic studies, getting projects to implementation, and building and sustaining relationships. A mobile tour of the research reserve’s salt marsh restoration projects was included as well. The event was hosted by the National Association of Wetland Managers (NAWM) and the Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), funded by an EPA cooperative agreement.

The workshop program can be reviewed here.

Photo: Guana Peninsula, Guana Lake and Guana River with the Guana dam separating the two waterbodies. Credit: Allix North, FL Department of Environmental Protection

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