South Florida sounds the alarm amid threat of rising sea levels

One of the most vulnerable areas in the country isn't prepared to deal with climate change.
E.A. CRUNDEN
MAY 7, 2018, 12:07 PM

Outdated and fast-aging flood control mechanisms won’t be enough to protect South Florida amid a rapidly-changing climate and rising sea levels. Local publications and activists are sounding the alarm about the region’s lack of preparedness, with sea levels set to rise at least 2 feet by 2060.

A partnership between the editorial boards of the Miami Herald, South Florida Sun Sentinel, and Palm Beach Post is aiming to draw attention to the threat rising sea levels pose to South Florida. With assistance from WLRN Public Media, the election year effort is meant to hold Florida lawmakers accountable and ensure action. That includes calling for Congress to prioritize the vulnerable area swiftly.

In an editorial published Sunday, the Miami Herald drew attention to South Florida’s aging flood-control system, which is between 50 and 70 years old. The current system, involving 2,000 miles of canals overseen by the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), prevents saltwater from reaching the mainland and separates canal water from the sea. Rising seas pose a threat to that balance, the Herald says.

Salt water coming into the mainland would imperil some 2.4 million people, destroying homes, flooding roads, and even bringing feces and other human waste into direct contact with residents.

“It’s clear that this aging system will need serious, and expensive, upgrades,” reads the editorial. Lawmakers in Washington, the Herald notes, also have yet to fund a crucial flood study for the area that received a green light two years ago.

“Congress has yet to provide the money for a much-needed study of how to do that. It’s galling that lawmakers gave the Northeast $20 million for a flood-control system after just one storm, Superstorm Sandy,” the editorial continues. “Yet for all the hurricanes and tropical storms we’ve endured, Congress has yet to fund a flood-control study for our region that it authorized in 2016.”

Collectively the three publications called sea level rise “the defining issue of the century” and argued that South Florida faces “no graver threat” than an onslaught of water.

Florida Governor Rick Scott. (CREDIT: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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Twenty-two of the 25 American cities most vulnerable to climate change are in Florida, including Miami. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists (USC), at least five of Florida’s coastal communities are set to experience severe tidal flooding by 2035, regardless of any storm activity. Cape Sable, Key Biscayne, Key West, and both the Lower and Middle Keys are listed as areas of concern in the group’s 2017 “When Rising Seas Hit Home” report.

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https://thinkprogress.org/south-florida-sea-levels-flood-systems-531536a5d6f7/