Thread: Florida communities prepare for rising seas

Florida communities prepare for rising seas

Coastal areas emerging as a national model

By William E. Gibson, Washington Bureau
12:02 p.m. EDT, April 20, 2014

WASHINGTON — While the nation looks for solutions to the problem of rising sea levels, some coastal communities in Florida are taking action to save themselves from sinking into the ocean.

Hallandale Beach is preparing to pump excess groundwater into an aquifer. Fort Lauderdale has raised a coastal roadbed and is installing one-way "tidal valves" that flush water down storm drains but block seawater from rising back up.

And coastal communities farther north, from Palm Beach County to the Space Coast, are developing plans that would concentrate housing, businesses, water plants and wells on higher ground, less vulnerable to the rising sea.

"Florida is ground zero for sea-level rise," U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson told the Senate while announcing a field hearing in Miami Beach on Tuesday, which is Earth Day. "We've got quite a story to tell."

Nelson plans to highlight Florida's adaptations to its changing coastline when the Senate Subcommittee on Science and Space meets at 10 a.m. at Miami Beach City Hall.

Low-lying Florida, much of it barely above sea level, is among the first victims of global warming, which scientists say leads to rising seas.

Nelson and experts on climate change see the state emerging as a model for how to deal with the inevitable consequences.

The seas already have risen 8 to 10 inches over the past hundred years, creeping closer to structures built near the ocean, said Nancy Gassman, acting assistant director of public works in Fort Lauderdale.

"It makes a difference about how we look to the future and build new infrastructure, recognizing that sea-level rise needs to be considered," she said.

The response dovetails with measures designed to deal with extreme high tides each fall and occasional storms, such as Hurricane Sandy. That storm severely eroded South Florida beaches in November 2012, crumbling 2,000 feet of one lane of State Road A1A along the beachfront.

With future storms and rising seas in mind, engineers propped up the restored roadway with sheets of metal that were driven into the ground until they hit bedrock. They raised the roadbed while sloping it to drain water.

"We're putting it back not just the way it was but in a way that enhances its resilience to future events," Gassman said.

A pilot project to install one-way tidal valves — which send groundwater down storm drains but won't let water rise back up — has proven successful, she said.

The city also is considering stormwater parks — open spaces lined with plants, about the size of a few housing lots — where groundwater can be pooled to prevent flooding on surrounding property. And it is considering "bio-swales," narrow strips along roadways that are lined with vegetation and porous material to suck water more quickly below the surface.

Flat, low-lying Hallandale Beach already faces the threat of salty seawater flowing into its freshwater supply, a problem aggravated by sea-level rise.

The city once planned to spend $10 million to move its water system away from the sea, but leaders instead decided last year to pump surface water into an underground aquifer no longer used for drinking water.

"What we realized is that this is a good strategy not only for our drainage but in light of sea-level rise," said Earl King, assistant utilities director in Hallandale Beach.

Some communities farther north are beginning to assess the impact of rising seas while considering ways to protect existing buildings and shift new development to higher ground.

"As we build for the future, we have to take sea-level rise into account and fortify existing infrastructure, such as wells and water facilities," said Palm Beach County Commissioner Steven Abrams. "And we might need more frequent beach re-nourishment."

Satellite Beach, sitting on a barrier island along the Space Coast, cannot protect itself behind dikes or sea walls because water would seep through the porous limestone beneath it.

The city eventually may have to abandon some homes along the oceanfront and move toward multi-family housing complexes on higher ground, said John Fergus, a member of the city's planning advisory board.

"People would still buy homes, but do it with the understanding that this place won't be here 300 or 400 years from now," he said.
Planners in Volusia and Brevard counties are considering zoning changes that would increase density in less vulnerable places, turn low-lying areas into wetlands and locate police stations and power plants on higher ground.

"We may have to harden areas around them or potentially find higher areas to move them to," said Tara McCue of the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council. Sea walls may protect some communities, she said.

Some residents along the most vulnerable parts of Florida's coastline may have little choice but to move.

"A lot of people might not want to leave a place where they have a long history," McCue said. "Some areas may be so low that they have no other options."

wgibson@tribune.com or 202-824-8256

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/fl-prepa...,3626381.story

RELATED

http://www.alipac.us/f19/flood-prone...g-seas-299477/

Officials gather for climate conference to discuss rising sea levels WPEC So far, that state has recorded between 5 and 8 inches of sea level rise in the past 50 years, and by 2100 we could experience up to 3 feet of sealevel ...
	Chesapeake Bay impact crater adds to sea level rise Kansas City Star COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Scientists say sea level rise is occurring at a faster pace in the Chesapeake Bay region than the global average, and the ...
	Earth Day: will climate change affect the First Coast? First Coast News Ever wonder how Northeast Florida could be affected by climate change and rising sea levels? Now, with the click of a computer mouse, the potential ...
	Minister expresses concern over Bangladesh being affected by climate change Business Standard Bangladesh Environment and Forest Minister Anwar Hossain Manju has expressed his concern over climate change owing to rising sea levels, which ...

$50 million pump tandems to fight flooding?
Miami Today
The two pumps at that structure weren't specifically installed to address sea level rise, but a similar set of technologies could be one fix to combat ...

Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Subcommittee on Science and Space Hearing
Insurance News Net (press release)
Data gathered by NOAA from multiple sites indicates that sea level rise is occurring, and has been for over 100 years (see Figure 1). Similar charts ...

42 Florida scientists urge Gov. Scott to convene climate solution summit

BY MARY ELLEN KLAS
Herald/Times Tallahassee BureauSeptember 17, 2014

MOST POPULAR STORIES

• Former Manatee County lawmaker involved in red-light camera fight
• Fire at Bradenton house ruled arson
• Unarmed security guards start in Manatee elementary schools
• Late-night punch lands Cortez man in jail on assault charges
• Westfield Sarasota Square Mall looks to remain major mall player in region
• Bradenton Housing Authority's interim executive director threatens legal action

TALLAHASSEE -- If Florida’s climate scientists have proven anything this summer, it is that they are careful listeners.

After Gov. Rick Scott told them last month he is “focused on solutions,” 42 scientists from Florida colleges and universities crafted a letter asking the governor and state policy leaders to convene a “Climate Science & Solutions Summit” this fall to come up with an action plan for Florida.

“As scientists, we would like the opportunity to contribute scientific information to a plan which would address what is at stake for our state,’’ the scientists wrote.

The letter, to be released Thursday and obtained by the Herald/Times, comes a month after five of the state’s top climate scientists met with Gov. Rick Scott to discuss climate change.

The scientists asked for the meeting after Scott said he did not have an opinion on the issue because he was “not a scientist.”

The scientists wrote to Scott saying they “were scientists” and would welcome the opportunity to explain to him why Florida is especially vulnerable as rising sea levels are flooding streets in Miami Beach, salt water is encroaching on drinking water supplies, and warming water is damaging the coral reefs.

But just hours before the Aug. 19 meeting in his office, the governor told reporters that instead of talking about the causes of climate change, he wanted to talk about solutions.

The latest letter, signed by scientists that include the co-author of the National Climate Assessment and University of Florida’s Climate Institute, thanks the governor for the meeting and then implores him and other state leaders to start working on solutions.

“It is crucial for policymakers to understand that human activity is affecting the composition of the atmosphere which will lead to adverse effects on human economies, health and well being,’’ wrote the scientists from UF, Florida A & M, University of Miami, Florida State University, Florida Atlantic University, the University of South Florida, Eckerd College and Florida International University.

“Once policymakers understand this problem, it follows that we are capable of taking action for both adaptation and to prevent the problem from accelerating and rising the price for the solutions,” they wrote.

They cited the federal government’s National Climate Assessment which concluded that Florida is “exceptionally vulnerable to sea level rise, extreme heat events, and decreased water availability.”

Scott said in 2010 he had “not been convinced that there’s any man-made climate change,” but he has since refused to say whether or not he has shifted his position on the issue.

During the meeting in his office, the governor asked the professors to explain their backgrounds, describe the courses they taught, and where students in their academic fields get jobs. But the governor would not comment, question or commit to whether or not he believed the climate warnings deserved his attention, and he showed no sign that his skepticism about human-induced climate change had shifted.

Ben Kirtman, a professor of computational and atmospheric science at the University of Miami, said he and his colleagues concluded after the meeting “it’s time to get the scientists and the policymakers to really have a dialogue about how to use the best available science to inform decisions.”

For example, he said, scientists could offer data on what strategies might best help the existing infrastructure survive in the face of rising sea levels and the timeframe needed to implement it.

“It’s quite conceivable that Miami Beach might ask when are they going to see a 2-foot sea level rise and we could provide the best available science and they can use that for their planning,’’ he said.
The scientists note the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s requirement — that Florida lower its carbon emissions by 38 percent by 2030 — will require statewide planning and new standards.

They urged state leaders make decisions on the issue in a “transparent fashion” and offered to “contribute scientific information.”

The professors also pointed to a proposal submitted to the Florida Board of Governors by UF’s Florida Climate Institute that asks for an $18 million investment into climate change mitigation. The plan includes the development of a multi-university center that would work with businesses and state and local agencies to develop new technology and training programs aimed at reducing the impacts of hurricanes, droughts, floods and rising temperatures.

Read more here: http://www.bradenton.com/2014/09/17/...#storylink=cpy

http://www.bradenton.com/welcome_page/?shf=/2014/09/17/5364900_42-florida-scientists-urge-gov.html

St. Petersburg to look into expected sea level rise in waterfront master plan

• 
• Charlie Frago, Times Staff Writer

Saturday, October 11, 2014 9:59pm

SCOTT KEELER | Times (2013)

Much of St. Petersburg’s waterfront, shown from the Vinoy Renaissance hotel, left, to the tip of the Albert Whitted Airport runways, right, is barely above sea level. Experts agree that Tampa Bay’s sea level is expected to rise several feet by 2100.

ST. PETERSBURG

RELATED NEWS/ARCHIVE

• St. Pete names pivotal seven-member panel in pier design process
  2 Months Ago
• Climate change summit at Eckerd College to focus on solutions and jobs
  1 Week Ago
• Who is Charlie Crist? The answer is complicated
  2 Months Ago

When city officials publicly kicked off the downtown waterfront master planning process in August, they described the nearly seven miles fronting Tampa Bay as a beautiful gem that set the city apart.

What Mayor Rick Kriseman, Deputy Mayor Kanika Tomalin and planning chief Dave Goodwin didn't mention in their remarks to hundreds of residents gathered in a ballroom at the Hilton St. Petersburg Bayfront was the threat of rising sea levels between Coffee Pot Bayou and Lassing Park.

As city residents weigh in on the future of Al Lang Stadium, Albert Whitted Airport, Vinoy Park and the port, the scientific consensus that much of that area might increasingly be threatened by storm surges and mounting drainage problems hasn't been a major topic of the public conversation.

"I don't think it's high enough on the radar screen," council member Karl Nurse said.

Experts agree that Tampa Bay is expected to rise several feet by 2100, although the bulk of that rise will probably occur toward the end of the century, depending on how the world decides to tackle global warming. Much of St. Petersburg's waterfront is barely above sea level.

Goodwin said city staffers met late last week with Gary Mitchum, oceanographer at University of South Florida St. Petersburg, member of the Pier selection committee and expert on rising sea levels, to discuss how the city can account for rising sea levels.

"Part of the journey of this plan is to get a handle on it and deal with it," Goodwin said. "It's one of the core issues."

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' midrange prediction calls for sea levels to rise 3.2 feet in St. Petersburg by 2100, virtually guaranteeing a 5-foot flood within that time span, according to climatecentral.org.

Mitchum said he hasn't had much time to study the waterfront plan yet but no drastic impact from rising water is anticipated in the next 25 years. "There isn't any nightmare scenario," he said.

But drainage will continue to worsen as the water rises, he said, and storm surges are likely to worsen as well.

An antiquated drainage system created in the 1920s and 1930s further compounds the potential problems, council member Darden Rice said.

Still, she doesn't think the issue is being ignored.

"I think we all have our eyes on this," she said.

Cathy Harrelson, chairman of Sustainability Council, a group formed to make the city more environmentally and economically efficient, isn't as sure.

"The city has said they'll account for it — I haven't seen it yet," Harrelson said recently. "I do think it is something that needs to move farther to the front of planning. We shouldn't be doing any kind of structural planning without putting that at the top of the list."

Eckerd College marine scientist David Hastings said the city needs to adapt to higher sea levels that are scientific certainty at this point.

Although a global problem, solutions to combat global warming effects can be found on the local level, he said, citing ideas like installing innovative sea walls to planting mangroves.

"It's about leadership," he said.

Kriseman said the city will highlight the issue next month with a panel on rising seas at the BLUE Ocean Film Festival. He mentioned the dilemma in his swearing-in remarks earlier this year, and has lobbied state and federal officials.

"It's going to be part of the conversation moving forward . . . it has to be," Kriseman said. "It's not a plan for next year. It's a plan for the next 50 years."

Contact Charlie Frago at cfrago@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8459. Follow @CharlieFrago.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/environ...master/2201748