Regional leaders accept realities of sea level rise

A nearly unprecedented event occurred last week in Monroe County.

The elected officials from four different south Florida counties got together at the Murray Nelson Government Center in Key Largo for a regional climate change summit.

That wasn’t the unprecedented part. The unprecedented part was that the group as a body acknowledged that sea level rise would become a regional issue affecting south Florida and agreed on a projected rise of sea level over the next 20 years.

“The meeting was extremely productive,” said Monroe County Administrator Roman Gastesi. “We were able to confirm that all four counties, Monroe, Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach would work together on a plan to adapt to climate change and rising seas level. The elected officials of all four counties assured us that they were cognizant of the issues.”

Gatesi said the group also signed on to a unified sea level rise projection of three to seven inches over the next 20 years.

“While three inches doesn’t seem like much, many low-lying areas will be affected by something that seemingly insignificant. Now that the issue has been agreed upon, the staffs can begin to put together plans for adaptation,” said Gastesi.

The next step in what promises to be a decades-long process to battle the effects of sea level rise, particularly in low-lying Monroe County, is to complete an assessment of areas of vulnerability, said Gastesi.

“There were several good action items placed on the table during the meeting,” he said. “For instance, as we rebuild roads in south Florida, and particularly in Monroe County, we are going to have the criteria so that the roads will be elevated to account for sea level rise. It’s not something we’ll go out and do tomorrow, but as roads are rebuilt, because they have a finite shelf life, we’ll incorporate criteria for sea level rise.”

As part of the transportation element of the regional adaptation plan, officials suggest that local governments put more emphasis on land acquisitions within Coastal High Hazard areas prone to storm surge and rain inundation.

The plan also suggests that governments begin to focus more intently on mass transit options that will aid in cutting greenhouse gas emissions, believed by a majority of the world’s scientific community to be a major contributor to global warming and thus sea level rise.

The plan also suggests that communities attempt to increase bicycle and pedestrian pathways with easy access to mass transit points to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Regarding potable water supplies, the plan suggests that local agencies consider restoration of wetlands areas capable of holding potable water for extended periods, as well as technology that will slow the encroachment of salt water on regional potable water supplies.

The plan suggests that communities begin to look at living shorelines, such as coral reefs and mangrove wetlands, as protections against rising sea level rather than the building of dykes and levies.

Attendees agreed that they should undertake regional efforts to advance alternative energy uses through the use of regulatory burden, financial incentives, public outreach and even financing of alternative energy and efficiency projects.

“It’s still to early in the process to have an actual suite of options for our various boards to look at and choose from,” said Gastesi. “There is a lot of study to be done on what we can do and what it will cost.”

He said Monroe County has already begun the long process of eventual adaptation for sea level rise.

“We are putting a climate change section in our new comprehensive plan that outlines some of the suggestions made by the climate summit task force,” he said. “We’re already designing the new Stock Island fire station to withstand sea level rise. That’s a 75 or 100-year building that we want to be able to continue to use in the future so we’re going to raise it from sea level.”

Almost all of the policies and programs that the regional climate summit suggested will cost someone money, perhaps money the smaller counties, like Monroe, can’t readily find.

“The purpose of the four-county climate compact is that we can pool our leverage and resources to try and get state and federal money to attack some of the issues we see today, and some of the issues we’ll see down the road,” said Gastesi.

The summit’s regional climate adaptation draft plan was released last week. Interested parties will have 60 days to comment on the proposals after which a final adaptation plan will be released.

Then the various staffs, through the existing task force, will begin the process of prioritizing infrastructure needs and seeking funding proposals to carry out the plans.

Gastesi said it’s also too soon to be able to delineate the effects on private property and what governments can do to maintain property rights while planning for the eventual encroachment of sea level on low-lying coastal communities.

“I’m sure that there are changes in development rules that will have to be made to address these issues in the near future,” he said.

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