Sea-level dilemmas quietly swelling on First Coast as planners chart steps

[thelakelander]

About 75 square miles of Northeast Florida real estate could be inundated by rising seas within 25 years. Or not.

Water to cover that ground might not arrive for another 50 years, maybe longer.

But almost certainly, it will get here.

That realization prompts a corps of First Coast residents – some in local governments, some activists or policy nerds – to chart steps communities can take now to avoid being caught unprepared when the tide rises.

Their answers have run a gamut, from lobbying for coastal property-insurance reforms to moving Green Cove Springs' police station to higher ground and learning steps to help Fernandina Beach's historic properties manage flooding, a situation that a prominent science group says could happen dozens of times a year within 30 years in that town – and even more in Jacksonville.

People who backed those projects don't know how much water to expect. But they're trying to get ready, just the same.

"It's kind of like insurance. If you do this stuff, you're insuring against it," said David Reed, a JEA employee who chaired a committee of volunteers that researched lessons about sea-levels for the Regional Community Institute of Northeast Florida, a nonprofit started by a regional planning council.

Full article: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2014-12-08/story/sea-level-dilemmas-quietly-swelling-first-coast

[strider]

Hmmm, so I could end up with some nice riverfront property after all!

Frankly, it still seems like everyone is still guess at what will really happen and if the sea levels will rise at a faster rate that they have been. We all get to just wait and see I guess.

[CityLife]

"Tide gauge readings taken at Mayport between 1928 and 2006 rose some months and dropped others, but overall suggested changes of about nine and a half inches per century."


For those interested in this, Florida Trend did a great piece last year on the impacts of sea level rise in Florida.

http://www.floridatrend.com/article/15814/a-rising-concern?page=1

Check out the specific impacts to beaches, roads, etc on the left side of the story.

[CityLife]

One very big advantage North Florida has in dealing with sea level rise, is that South Florida is having to deal with it now. Miami Beach is in the process of installing a $300 million pumping system to help deal with flooding issues at high tide. In 10-20 years when the First Coast potentially has to deal with sea level rise, local engineers and planners will have a ton of data, ideas, and best practices to draw upon from South Florida's experience. Not to mention, we will have the capability of bringing in South Florida experts as consultants or staff.