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South Florida's floodgates vulnerable to rising sea levels
By Andy Reid, Sun Sentinel
8:40 PM EST, February 10, 2010
Rising sea levels already threaten South Florida's coastal floodgates, likely
prompting the need for costly retrofits to protect some of the state's most
populated areas, water managers warned Wednesday.
While worldwide debate continues over the potential long-term effects of
climate change, the South Florida Water Management District on Wednesday
identified 28 flood-control structures along the southeast coast that it
considers vulnerable to rising sea levels.
Flood control structures in Broward and Miami-Dade counties are at the most
immediate risk, according to the district.
South Florida needs to wake up to the problems of climate change, Broward County Commissioner Kristin Jacobs said Wednesday at a meeting in West Palm Beach of
South Florida water managers. The group was shown pictures from an "extreme"
high tide in September that was eight inches higher than usual, breeching a
seawall on Las Olas Isles.
"This isn't some 100-year scenario we are talking about," Jacobs said. "The
impacts are [happening] now."
Long-term, scientific models project a 5- to 20-inch sea level rise in South
Florida due to climate change during the next 50 years, according to the water
management district's ongoing analysis.
But South Florida already has experienced periods of extreme high tides where
sea levels rise higher than the point where stormwater water from coastal
drainage canals would normally get dumped out to sea, said Jayantha Obeysekera,
who is leading the district's response to climate change.
That forces water managers to keep flood gates closed, increasing the risk of
flooding in coastal communities and beyond if canals become overwhelmed.
"This is a real problem we already have," Obeysekera said. "We cannot get the
water out."
To fix the problem, the district anticipates building pumps that could push
stormwater out to sea while also keeping the flood gates closed to
counterbalance elevated sea levels. The first three flood control structures on
the to-do list are the S27, S28 and S29 facilities in north Miami-Dade
County.
The district has not determined how much building the pumps would cost, but
officials Wednesday braced for the possibility of costs running into the
billions, stretched over the next few decades.
Officials from Florida's southeastern counties are trying to get $15 million
from the federal government to help pay for planning how to deal with climate
change.
Andy Reid can be reached at abreid@SunSentinel.com or
561-228-5504.