With water levels rising, Miami has been impacted heavily by storms and floods in recent years. Can a set of 20ft high concrete walls do the trick?
For years now the residents of the Miami coast have had that lingering thought about the possible flooding coming with every storm season. With water levels rising little by little every year as the planet heats up and the ice around the world melts, Miami Beach and other parts of the coast are running into frightening levels of flooding whenever a major storm or hurricane swings by for a visit. Many Miami politicians and residents are backing the proposed plan the Army Corps of Engineers have developed, but there is something about this plan that isn’t sitting right with the Miami people.
The people of Miami and its Politicians have given their verbal approvals of the newly updated $6b federal proposal by the Army Corps of Engineers to protect the Miami Coast from any future flooding and storm surges. The plan consists of establishing a new standard of building efficiency where thousands of private homes along the coast would be elevated and floodproofed. These same measures are to be taken for thousands of businesses, hospitals, fire and police stations along the Miami coast. Though there is one concept in the proposal that Miamians and politicians don’t seem to be on board with, and that is the installation of 20 foot tall concrete walls along the coast of the Biscayne Bay.
Army Corps plans for Miami Coast
Miami-Dade along with private businesses have recently promoted an alternative strategy for the protection of the Miami coast, contrary to the strategy of the Army Corps’ plan of 20 foot high walls on the coast of the Biscayne Bay. This alternative vision being promoted would be an even larger modification of the Biscayne Bay coast than that of what the Army Corps is proposing. Going away from the idea of 20 foot high walls, this newly promoted vision by Miami-Dade has giant dunes of sand and dirt between the city and the Biscayne Bay. These dunes would have plenty of mangroves and oyster reefs spread across the coast, which would allow for a more natural approach to slowing down incoming waves.
This new envisioned coast would consist of a moat in between the dunes and the coast. With seagrass and other natural landscaping features in this moat, it is designed to cause storm surges to break down and cause less of an impact. This design promoted by Miami-Dade would give this great modification of the coast a more natural look that would be sure to not keep the tourists and locals away from the area. One of the few and more impactful cons of this design by Miami-Dade would be the environmental cost that comes with losing more acres of the existing Biscayne Bay floor.
Alternative strategy promoted by Miami-Dade
Many local leaders have shown their backing behind the newly promoted vision by Miami-Dade, opposed to the plan by the Army Corps to have 20 foot walls up in the Bay. Coastal residents don’t want to be stranded from the Biscayne Bay and they don’t want to experience their neighborhoods torn apart in order to get these proposed modifications done. Though environmentalists don’t seem to be on board with the long length of these walls planned out, it’s the business owners and developers that are more struck with worry. Their worries linger in spite of the impacts these modifications would have on property value around the Biscayne Bay and the coast.
Miami Commissioner Ken Russel has voiced his concern for the locals and future of the area. “Our residents and stakeholders should not accept the wall as currently proposed, he said. “If we get it right, we will not be reversing the unintended consequences of this plan 40 years from now.”
The Army Corps drafted these plans in early 2020, since then Miami-Dade has been at it trying to throw suggestions at Army Corps engineers about shortening the walls and using more natural and attractive options to protect the coast from floods and storm surges. The updated draft of the Army Corps’ plan includes flood gates in Coral Gables waterways, Snapper Creek, the Miami River, the Little River, and the Biscayne Canal.
The ideas coming from Miami-Dade have resulted in their newly promoted alternative vision for the project. This new vision is meant to continue human access to the bay and giving people the same scenic views existing today. The Army Corps has been unclear in their attitude towards the proposed ideas and vision by Miami-Dade.
A more natural solution, similar to proposed Miami-Dade plan
The county needs to formally approve this coastal construction project by April if there is any hope of getting funding from the federal government in a year’s time, otherwise, Miami could see long delays in this project. Miami-Dade only has a couple of options here, they can approve the Army Corps plan as-is and have the tall walls built or they can choose to use a waiver from the government in order to stop the process of the project for further proposals with more natural means of construction.
Miami-Dade wants the Army Corps to make more changes to their drafted plan that include things such as walkways and landscaping along the walls. This is a clever way for the county to save money for if these things such as walkways and landscaping are made after the construction of the Army Corps plans, there could be a large bill in it for Miami-Dade to pay for these additions.
Army Corps researchers have calculated that above-water walls would provide the Miami coast with the best protection for the lowest cost. This leaves little room for modifying the updated drafted plans the Corps engineers have set out.
Time is ticking and the future is in the hands of our leaders, as Miami-Dade must give a verbal approval to the Army Corps by the end of February for things to go smoothly until the April deadline of the formal approval, in order to continue forward with the plans to tackle this coastal issue alongside the Army Corps.
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