The following summarizes the plans, guidelines, and results of the three Jacobs Engineering tasks in the Integrated Water Management Plan. These tasks were necessary to set the basis for the implementation of design criteria packages (DCP) for City projects. The three tasks included:
• A Blue-Green Stormwater Infrastructure Concept Plan
http://www.miamibeachfl.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Blue-Green-Stormwater-Infrastructure-Concept-Plan.pdf
• An updated Road Elevation Strategy
http://www.miamibeachfl.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Road-Elevation-Strategy.pdf
• A Prioritization of Neighborhood Projects
http://www.miamibeachfl.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Neighborhood-Project-Prioritization.pdf
All three tasks support the City's Resilience Strategy by reducing flood risks in ways that increase environmental protection and create social and economic value for the residents of, and visitors to, the City.
The Commission’s approval of the plans, guidelines, and results will allow the City to begin implementation of DCPs for the recommended 56 prioritized neighborhood projects.
Blue-Green Stormwater Infrastructure (BGSI) Concept Plan
This Concept Plan will guide the City’s integration of blue-green stormwater practices into existing planning and capital improvement projects. These practices, selected for application specifically in Miami Beach, include bioretention, rainwater harvesting, restored/constructed wetlands (including floating wetlands), stormwater planters and other practices that can be implemented on commercial property, residential property, public facilities/spaces and transportation corridors. The intent is to increase the scale of implementation to realize the following benefits:
• Improve the water quality of the stormwater being discharged to Biscayne Bay
• Support flood reduction efforts by improved management of stormwater runoff from smaller, more frequent storm events
• Enhance the landscape with aesthetically pleasing practices guided by landscape architecture and innovative urban designs that provide social and economic value in locally relevant and neighborhood-specific ways.
The Commission’s approval of the Blue Green Stormwater Infrastructure Concept Plan will finalize these guidelines and plans for the City to integrate these practices into the master planning and capital improvement projects.
Road Elevation Strategy
The new policy for Road Elevations in the City is based on updated Sea Level Rise (SLR) projections and provides flexibility to accommodate harmonization of elevated roads with adjacent private property. The policy is designed to reduce the likelihood of sunny day flooding of road surfaces, groundwater elevation causing poor pavement performance, and to provide harmonization with surrounding land uses (perhaps with green infrastructure). The final recommended policy is as follows:
• A flexible and tailored approach for varying City conditions and needs that is not “one size fits all”
• Emergency Roads: The edge of the road needs to be above 4.8 feet in elevation (NAVD88 is used for all elevations in the new policy).
• Major and Local Roads: The edge of road needs to be above 3.9 feet in elevation
• For all roads, the bottom of road base needs to be above 2.9 feet in elevation
• Flexibility is provided for situations where these minimum road elevation requirements cannot be harmonized with adjacent private property. When lower road elevations are allowed, they are accompanied by upgraded road-base materials to protect road reliability and service life from groundwater impacts.
The Commission’s approval of the updated Road Elevation Strategy will cause the prior policy to be replaced by this updated and flexible policy to guide future road elevation projects. As part of this policy update, Jacobs Engineering identified 64 areas in the City that will require road elevation improvements; these are factored into the prioritization of neighborhood projects.
Neighborhood Project Prioritization
A comprehensive portfolio of 56 neighborhood projects was developed and prioritized using a methodology that was vetted with community stakeholders, the READY Team and the City Commission. Neighborhood projects were prioritized based on following management objectives:
• Flood risk reduction
• Addressing critical water and sewer system needs and service supply reliability
• Population served by the project
• Minimization of community disruption by consolidation of construction activities
A total of 560 individual capital infrastructure projects from the City’s water, sewer, stormwater and transportation master plans and other planning documents (i.e., Blueways, GO Bond and the current CIP program) were evaluated to determine the degree to which each supports the above management objectives. A total of 401 projects were included in the final prioritization; which includes 64 new road elevation projects developed by Jacobs Engineering based on the new Road Elevation Strategy.
Capital projects across all planning areas were bundled into neighborhood projects to minimize community impacts from construction activities and in preparation for development of DCPs. DCP development will include the addition of Blue-Green Stormwater Infrastructure per the Concept Plan and urban design elements to increase the social and economic benefits of these projects.
The Commission’s approval of the Neighborhood Prioritization, including the 56 neighborhood projects, will empower the City to develop DCPs for each project and begin implementation.
Community Engagement
Public meetings have been conducted to present the Blue-Green Stormwater Infrastructure Concept Plan, Road Elevation Strategy and Neighborhood Project Prioritization methodology and to collect and include public comments and concerns in these final tasks. These were conducted to both inform the community about the actions the City is taking to adapt to climate change and to solicit community input. Additionally, in the case of green infrastructure, the community was made aware of actions they can take that help adapt to climate change and protect the environment
Results from the 2019 Resident Survey show that 50% of residents rated efforts to manage stormwater drainage and flooding as excellent or good. In order to continue maintaining excellent standards in this area, the City recommends accepting the Jacobs Engineering Miami Beach Integrated Water Management.