Arch Creek Basin, Miami-Dade County, Florida
Addressing Climate Vulnerabilities and Social Equity with an Adaptation Action Area Framework
With over 84 miles of coastline and a population of 2.6 million people, Miami-Dade County is one of the most vulnerable areas to sea level rise in the country. Many parts of the County are already regularly experiencing flooding due to low elevations and drainage problems, and the County is vulnerable to extreme weather events that could include catastrophic winds and storm surge. South Florida’s porous substrate also makes traditional defenses, such as levees, less effective for managing groundwater levels and flooding.
Miami-Dade County invited ULI to study the Arch Creek Basin area, a multi-jurisdictional area which comprises approximately 2,838 acres and four municipalities, as well as unincorporated County land. The area is economically diverse and includes sites which have experienced repetitive losses due to routine flooding. The area is also likely to experience development and change, as a future commuter rail station will provide an opportunity for transit-oriented development.
Arch Creek Basin’s challenges and vulnerabilities are characteristic of other areas of the County, and therefore solutions developed during the panel could have wide applicability. The site also can serve as a model for resilience planning due to its designation as an Adaptation Action Area, a policy tool developed to address interrelated climate change risks more holistically.
Questions posed by the sponsor included:
- Given that the study area is a drainage basin, how can water best be moved and managed?
- Considering that many neighborhoods in the study area were built on low-lying sites or constructed using “dredge and fill” policies, what opportunities exist to incrementally move towards a more sustainable development pattern?
- How can housing affordability concerns be addressed alongside flood risk concerns? Could redevelopment improve access to quality affordable housing?
- How can community vulnerabilities to tropical storms be addressed and what policies can be put in place to reduce disproportionate impacts?
- What opportunities exist to implement more sustainable design and land use for the area around the proposed commuter rail station?
- What capital improvements, operational improvements and green infrastructure investments are needed to make the area more resilient?
- How should the county, multiple cities, and other taxing authorities best manage implementation and funding of a plan for this multi-jurisdictional drainage basin?
Report Summary: With over 84 miles of coastline and a population of 2.6 million people, Miami-Dade County is one of the most vulnerable areas to sea level rise in the country. Many parts of the County are already regularly experiencing flooding due to low elevations and drainage problems, and the County is vulnerable to extreme weather events that could include catastrophic winds and storm surge. South Florida’s porous substrate also makes traditional defenses, such as levees, less effective for managing groundwater levels and flooding.
Miami-Dade County invited ULI to study the Arch Creek Basin area, a multi-jurisdictional area which comprises approximately 2,838 acres and four municipalities, as well as unincorporated County land. The area is economically diverse and includes sites which have experienced repetitive losses due to routine flooding. The area is also likely to experience development and change, as a future commuter rail station will provide an opportunity for transit-oriented development.
Arch Creek Basin’s challenges and vulnerabilities are characteristic of other areas of the County, and therefore solutions developed during the panel could have wide applicability. The site also can serve as a model for resilience planning due to its designation as an Adaptation Action Area, a policy tool developed to address interrelated climate change risks more holistically.
Questions posed by the sponsor included:
- Given that the study area is a drainage basin, how can water best be moved and managed?
- Considering that many neighborhoods in the study area were built on low-lying sites or constructed using “dredge and fill” policies, what opportunities exist to incrementally move towards a more sustainable development pattern?
- How can housing affordability concerns be addressed alongside flood risk concerns? Could redevelopment improve access to quality affordable housing?
- How can community vulnerabilities to tropical storms be addressed and what policies can be put in place to reduce disproportionate impacts?
- What opportunities exist to implement more sustainable design and land use for the area around the proposed commuter rail station?
- What capital improvements, operational improvements and green infrastructure investments are needed to make the area more resilient?
- How should the county, multiple cities, and other taxing authorities best manage implementation and funding of a plan for this multi-jurisdictional drainage basin?