FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — More than two dozen canals across South Florida face a mounting risk of spilling over during heavy rains as sea level rise looms in the coming years.
Now, officials are renewing calls to improve canal systems to help reduce the threat of flooded homes and streets as state legislators push for millions of dollars in state funding, and local officials spend millions more on studies. The improvements would entail adding new pumps as well as widening and deepening canals.
In Broward County, seven canals of concern run through parts of Oakland Park, Davie, Deerfield Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, Lauderhill and unincorporated Broward. In Miami-Dade, 18 canals of extra concern are in places such as Coral Gables, Miami and Hialeah.
But it’s not necessarily the people who live closest to the canals who face the greatest flood risk. Rather, it is residents who live farther away from them who could be most in harm’s way, because it takes longer for the water in their neighborhoods to reach canals.
Southwest Ranches is among the communities worried about flooding. “We’re at their mercy,” Southwest Ranches Mayor Steve Breitkreuz said of the canals. “The canals must be lower than the water on the ground and if that’s not the case, the water will stay right where it is, it won’t go anywhere.”
His town has a dedicated 10-acre tract of elevated land already set aside for residents’ horses during a hurricane — free from trees that can topple and buildings that can crumble, and land that is high enough to keep them from standing in a flood.
“The immediate impact is on our animals because they can’t stand in the water for an extended period of time, along with mosquitoes.”
Breitkreuz said he worries about people’s homes, too. “It’s only going to get worse, it’s not going to get better.”
Because Palm Beach County’s elevation is higher, its canals are not considered problematic or in urgent need of rehabilitation, officials say. Palm Beach County has an average elevation of about 15 feet, but most of the southern two-thirds of Broward County, except for a few ridges and high spots, stands just 2 feet to 6 feet above sea level or lower.
Miami-Dade needs the overhaul the fastest, said Randy Smith, spokesman for the South Florida Water Management District, because “the way they are positioned, the elevation, and projection of sea level rise, they are the most vulnerable and need immediate attention.”
A decades-old design
South Florida’s canal system dates to 1948. That gravity-driven design that once benefited a farming and low-density region is part of the reason experts now say they face a crisis. The canals face a higher flood risk from rain because their flood-control systems depend on gravity and the downhill flow of water to the ocean. But when the ocean gets so high that the water level is the same on both sides of a canal gate, the drainage system can’t function. And that means flooding for communities.
Because inland flooding water is directed into the ocean, once sea level rise reaches above the canal gates, the water cannot be moved.
“If the water cannot be let out, you’re going to see inland flooding because there’s no place to put the water,” said state Rep. Robin Bartleman from Broward, who is pushing for Florida’s Legislature to help solve the issue with a $2 million bill and not wait for the federal government.
“Time is of the essence right now to get this done,” she said. Otherwise, it will impact homes, businesses and the water supply if there is saltwater intrusion, she said.
Planning improvements
State and federal officials are eager to make the improvements. It means the “preservation of South Florida and Broward County,” said Broward Mayor Michael Udine.
The flooding concerns didn’t happen overnight.
In 2009, the South Florida Water Management District sounded the alarms when it said there were 18 canals in Miami-Dade and Broward that were within 6 inches of their design capacity and the gates would no longer perform as intended to let the water out. Experts said sea level would have risen 8 inches by 2030.
Jennifer Jurado, the deputy director and chief resilience officer for Broward’s Environmental Protection and Growth Management Department, called that 2009 study “revealing.”
In past years, Broward County has urged the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, which built the canal system and is responsible for the upgrade, to do something.
But each plan of action has failed because there is no money to pay for studies and the work, and no authorization to even start it, Jurado said.
When Tropical Storm Eta struck in 2020, several inches of floodwater remained for weeks and raised concern in Broward County. “Those types of events give insights to the overall exposure,” she said. “If you can’t move that water, it’s sitting on top of the community.”
“We’ve tried to be patient partners and prod,” Jurado said. “But the money is not coming together. It’s been 13 years now, five of that very aggressive conversations and strategy and we’re barely any further.
“The time frame is getting shorter and shorter and now it’s desperate. We’ve lost so much time in the dialogue.”
Canal failures
Standing in the way of the actual canal improvements is $2 billion.
Only now is there the first glimmer of hope: a $500,000 line item in President Joe Biden’s federal budget that becomes available in February. It is supposed to kick-start a $3 million study run by the South Florida Water Management District and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Also, on Jan. 12, the Florida Legislature gave its first nod to Bartleman’s House Bill 513, which is an “accountability bill,” by passing it in committee. It requires the South Florida Water Management District to get the Legislature annual reports showing the infrastructure deficiencies, what needs to be done, and how much money is needed.
“They’ve known about this since 2009 and there’s been no movement,” she said. “We need the information to hold everyone accountable.”
She’s also calling for $2 million of state money to become available in July for a “resiliency study” for both Central and South Florida. “The money we’re getting from the federal government is not adequate.”
Of the canal system in place, “they’re going to fail,” Bartleman said. “The study needs to be done yesterday. We don’t have time for it to be done incrementally.”
Instilling a sense of urgency
Broward County Commissioner Steve Geller said from start to finish — from the onset of the studies till the actual work is done — could take 15 years. And he said he feels the clock ticking.
“It’s going to get worse,” he said. “It’s already too late to prevent it but we can try to do now is minimize it until we can get it fixed.”
Separate from the federal and state efforts, Broward County already set aside $3 million in 2020 to do its own study of its own canals. A contract with a firm to get started could be signed by March.
Jurado said the federal aid money will be spent eventually — but she said she hopes it’s on prevention and not disaster relief cleanup.
The goal is to be done “in advance of a massive failure,” she said.
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