Miami Waterkeeper Comments on the SFWMD's Draft Sea Level Rise and Flood Resiliency Plan

Miami Waterkeeper has reviewed the South Florida Water Management District's (SFWMD) draft plan to address the impacts of rising sea levels, extreme weather events, and changing rainfall and flood patterns. This initiative represents the District’s first-ever comprehensive list of priority resiliency projects for South Florida. The plan is required by Senate Bill 1954, which established the Resilient Florida Program within the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP). The SFWMD will update and submit the plan to FDEP yearly.

We encourage the District to emphasize nature-based solutions within each iteration of the plan. Nature-based green infrastructure provides multiple benefits and can cost less than traditional grey infrastructure over the life of the project. Nature and nature-based solutions can sequester carbon, foster biodiversity, encourage recreation, reduce heat, reduce wave energy, provide habitat, and sequester the excess nutrients that cause ecological crises in our estuaries.

Read Miami Waterkeeper’s Comments here.