Posted on November 9, 2021
Village Manager is expecting a favorable announcement this week by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which could result in up to $120 million for Key Biscayne shoreline protection, including the bulk of the construction.
In tandem with Miami-Dade County, Key Biscayne’s inclusion into the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Coastal Storm Risk Management Tentatively Selected Plan is a once-in-50-year opportunity.
“For the time being, we are in,” said Dr. Roland Samimy, who was hired in April of 2020 as the Village’s Chief Resiliency and Sustainability Officer. “We’re setting ourselves up for 50 years of opportunity.”
The last time such funding was available for a similar “first line of defense” project was in the early 1970s, when Key Biscayne was still under the auspices of Miami-Dade County.
“We did get included for a certain amount of federal support,” said Samimy, noting that the Village took full responsibility for the maintenance of the beach areas. “(When we became incorporated) there was a realization that we had lost a major benefit, so it was a desire to get back in… For the past 20-30 years we’ve waited for this opportunity.”
Projections from the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact 2019 showed an increase of 10 to 17 inches in sea level rise in the next 20 years.
“As sea level rises, we want to make sure we’re included to maintain and strengthen the beach over the next 50 years,” Samimy said, pointing to storms, King Tides, climate change as major threats to the barrier island. “And that is generating a lot of stress, fear and anxiety for our residents.”
The essence of the Tentatively Selected Plan (TSP) — “We’re hoping to remove ‘tentatively’ soon,” Samimy said — is three-fold:
Beach nourishment at regular intervals. The 31,000-cubic yard nourishment project Key Biscayne just completed came mostly (90%) from FEMA federal money after Hurricane Irma.
Dune enhancements to raise and broaden the dunes.
Buried sheet pile wall of steel and concrete overtopped by sand and then topped by vegetation. Basically, from Crandon Park to Bill Baggs, the wall would protect the back side of the dune, and there also would be tieback walls along the northern and southern Village boundary from the dune line west toward Crandon Boulevard.
Construction would cost $60 million out of the $120 million, and 65% of that would come from federal money through the Army Corps. The remaining 35% would be shared between the city, state and county.
“This is not just protecting the beauty of our beach,” said Village Manager Steve Williamson, a former Army colonel. “We get this thing, and that’s $120 million we don’t have to spend (on shoreline protection). It frees up resources to do the rest of the resilience efforts Village-wide.
“It’s a win-win for residents. This will guide us to a future we want, not what we don’t want.”
How it might play out
Originally, Key Biscayne was not part of the feasibility study that would lead to a tentatively selected plan. However, through aggressive lobbying efforts up the Army Corps chain of command, and a complicated waiver process, the Village was back in the mix.
On Sept. 14, said Samimy, “We had to defend our existence to the Corps … “So, as of today, we are included.”
The $100 million General Obligation bond referendum passed by voters last November “was a big deal for the Corps, showing a large commitment by the Village,” Samimy said.
The Army Corps project zeroes in on the benefits to protect low-lying areas east of Crandon Boulevard from inundation, while the city would develop its own plans for protection from the bayside inundation threat.
The project centers around a protective — and later vegetated — underlying dune wall, made of steel and concrete. It will run parallel to the ocean (not in contact with the water) and will connect across the 1.2-mile stretch of beach area from Crandon Park to Bill Baggs State Park, including the narrow stretch of beach by the Ocean Club “where King Tides swallow up the beach” to the much wider beach area, such as behind the Island House and Commodore Club South.
The protected wall will be buried at the peak of the dune, with perhaps a five-foot lift in elevation of the dune crest in some areas, more or less in other areas, depending on existing dune elevations.
“It’s going to be different,” Samimy said. “Maybe some people sitting at the Tiki Bar at the Ritz may not see the water at eye level, but they will see a nice vegetated dune. In some areas, such as the Ocean Club, it will be a hefty dune area from what it is now.”
First- and second-floor condo residents will still have unobstructed views of the ocean.
Installing walkovers, instead of allowing paths or cut-throughs, will further enhance the protective qualities of the dunes.
Up north by Crandon Park, there will be a couple hundred meters of tieback walls to protect water coming from the park area.
