"In 2019, the City of Miami consolidated the Sea Level Rise Committee and Waterfront Advisory Board into the Climate Resilience Committee. The charge of the Committee has expanded to include: (1) recommending, to the Commission, changes to City Code and policy that will help the City thrive in the face of all climate change threats, and (2) providing input on City-owned waterfront land use issues when tasked. The Committee meets monthly."
Last Tuesday, June 20th, 2023, the Climate Resilience Committee held a Back Bay Study Workshop. The Back Bay Study is a shorthand nickname for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Miami-Dade County's re-initiation of the Miami-Dade Back Bay Coastal Storm Risk Management Study.
Sonia Brubaker, COM Chief Resilience Officer, discussed the dangers of a Storm Surge, the effects of previous storm surges, an overview of the County and USACE's current timeline and plans for the Back Bay Study.
Aaron DeMayo presented an overview of the Connect and Protect Plan, which was created to protect South Florida from sea level rise and storm surge.
In the last year of the Back Bay re-initiation, many of the concepts requested in the C&P plan have been more highly discussed and incorporated into the currently planned alternatives. This includes an alignment that incorporates the strength of the Miami Beach Barrier Island to protect a far larger area than the previous Back Bay alignments, resulting in a massive ROI. Additionally, the C&P plan proposes Tidal Locks, rather than Sector Gates, which can be used for protection while still allowing maritime vessels to pass, which may be needed should SLR accelerate more quickly than anticipated.
This afternoon, June 26th, 2023, at 5:30 PM, Miami-Dade County and the USACE Norfolk District will host a virtual public meeting to include a brief review of the process to date, key alternatives, and evaluation criteria under consideration for the study, and time for open discussion between community members and the USACE and Miami-Dade County staff. Register here.
City of Miami Climate Resilience Webpage: https://www.miamigov.com/My-Government/Boards-Committees/Climate-Resilience-Committee
More information on the Back Bay Study here: https://www.saj.usace.army.mil/MiamiDadeBackBayCSRMFeasibilityStudy/
More information on the Connect and Protect Miami Plan:
https://www.futurevisionstudios.us/post/fvs-written-response-to-the-usace-miami-dade-back-bay-coastal-storm-risk-management-report
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