The City of Miami Beach operates a stormwater management system that collects, conveys, treats, and disposes of stormwater runoff from public rights of way. The primary function of this system is to facilitate travel along thoroughfares while maintaining a safe and livable condition for the City’s residents and visitors.
Recently, the City has undertaken a significant capital program, the Integrated Stormwater Plan, that upgrades the stormwater system to account for sea level rise and climate change.
During the development of its capital program, the City consulted numerous subject matter experts (including the Urban Land Institute), and developed a holistic stormwater management strategy, one that attenuates flooding while mimicking nature’s water cycle. In addition, the team and community members received validation of the project’s goals, and valuable feedback from the West Avenue Resilience Accelerator, a partnership between 100 Resilient Cities and Columbia University.
The current strategy provides a framework for a sustainable approach to urban stormwater management. It includes raising the elevation of certain roadways, to minimize sunny day flooding, and incorporates green infrastructure that replenishes the freshwater lens and mitigates the transport of excessive nutrient loads into Biscayne Bay. It also includes the reconstruction of City owned seawalls to a minimum elevation of 5.7 ft. NAVD
The Integrated Stormwater Plan provides the prioritized list of Neighborhood Improvement Projects (NIPs). These NIPs are complex projects that comprehensively address most of the critical infrastructure in each neighborhood, including new stormwater, water and sewer pipes, more robust pumps stations, and elevating roads where needed, and that require extensive public outreach.
Due to the level of complexity of these NIP’s, it is reasonable to assume that each project will take three to five years to complete, including design and construction. Thus, neighborhoods further out in the prioritization plan will not realize a NIP within the next ten years. Since many of these neighborhoods are currently experiencing significant flooding conditions, the Administration is exploring interim stormwater improvements to alleviate nuisance flooding ahead of a NIP. It should be noted that these improvements are to be considered interim in nature, and not the ultimate solution. These interim solutions are intended to alleviate some flooding; however, only NIP’s are expected to achieve the higher planned level-of-service. These short-term measures may include one or more of the following:
·Connecting existing drainage structures to existing outfalls,
·Adding drainage structures to an existing conveyance system or
·Adding drainage wells in specific low-lying areas with no forthcoming infrastructure projects.
The following are two examples of such areas under evaluation for interim stormwater improvements:
·15th St. and Euclid Avenue
·Cherokee Avenue
Results from the 2019 Resident Survey regarding Satisfaction with Perceptions of the City show that 46% of residents rated City efforts to reduce risk from rainfall & sea level rise as very satisfied/satisfied.