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Remember last month’s flooding of nearly biblical proportions? That may be a thing of the past permanently if the Army Corps of Engineers has its way.
Under a new proposed plan based on the Miami-Dade Back Bay Coastal Storm Risk Management Study, surge gates would be installed at waterways and walls would be erected to protect the county against storm surge. The three-year, $3 billion study, which is projected to be completed in September 2021, examines the impact and potential solutions of coastal storm events in the county. The results? A $4.6 billion fix targeting seven vulnerable areas: Arch Creek, Aventura, Cutler Bay, Little River, Miami River, North Beach and South Beach. Critical infrastructure would also be taken into account but not stormwater flooding, like the kind we’re used to seeing in Brickell on heavy rain days.
Pumps and floodwalls would be installed both along waterfronts and on land, where walls would be estimated to be between one to 10 feet tall. Floodwalls in the water could go as high as 36 feet, depending on the location. The project’s third component includes a nature-focused feature in Cutler Bay. Imagine a wall the height of a telephone pole protecting, as well as blocking, us from Biscayne Bay? It has the potential to be an eyesore but could be the only thing to keep us from going underwater, considering tidal flooding in some areas of Florida has increased 352 percent.
Once the study is completed, implementation will depend on funding. Part of the cost of keeping our 2.8 billion residents safe is going to fall on local government, plus whatever the federal government will have to pony up needs be approved congress, which won’t happen for at least three years. The way it’s looking—and if 2020 has its way—we might just be underwater after all.
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