Restore wetlands, natural shorelines to reduce threat
Thank you for your recent editorial requesting funding from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to update the South Florida Water Management District’s aged flood-control system. (“Aging flood-control systems can’t protect South Florida from sea-level rise,” May 7)
I agree with your premise, but I think it is important to understand that there are no engineering solutions that will protect us from sea-level rise.
We need instead to restore the Everglades, and protect and restore wetlands as well as natural shorelines. We can also make sure our sewer systems have protection so that increasing water tables during storms will not force flooding up into our houses. Septic tanks may also be impacted by rising water tables.
We must accept that the drainage system that we have had in place for the past several decades may ultimately fail because it is based on the notion that sea level is downhill from the canal system, meaning all water pumped into canals will flow out to sea over time. This, in combination with storm surge, could put canal levels lower than the ocean. With incoming storm surge, the ocean could travel inland.
Engineering adjustments cannot change this fact. You cannot out-pump the ocean.
Because South Florida has an extremely porous land surface, berms and dikes such as work in the Netherlands will not work here. The ocean will push up under the dikes or around them.
We also cannot build sea walls to stop storm surge. The ocean will push up underneath these structures. They also provide a false sense of security. Natural shorelines with native plants such as mangroves provide a much better solution. Unfortunately, Florida continues to permit destruction of natural shorelines.
The solution is to restore the Everglades in Central and South Florida so that fresh stormwater can be pumped to the center of the state, not into the ocean. Extensive treatment areas would be required to clean this water so it could flow south without damaging the sensitive Everglades National Park.
We also need to stop building on open space and wetlands west of the coastal ridge. There are plenty of areas for infill, but we must protect the remaining ag and preserve areas.
These actions can protect us from storm surge and flooding when our existing canal system begins to fail. DREW MARTIN,