"We can't build our way out of the problem"

The latest installment of the PBS series "Sinking Cities" featured flooding in Miami and the lengths that local officials and developers are taking to address the rising water, both from the sea and from below.  Climate-change gentrification was discussed, as some higher-income residents are moving further inland from the "high rent" districts along the beach areas, to neighborhoods once ignored as home to lower-income, working class residents. The latter neighborhoods just happen to be at a higher elevation and less prone to sea level rise than the former.  The social and economic impacts of the displacement is a topic for another entry.

The episode also featured significant investments by the government and local builders to flood-proof public infrastructure and create building codes for raised development.  These are discussed in a Miami Herald article on one such project in the City.  The article includes a fascinating animation of the potential risk for the downtown and beach areas.  Essentially, the city is planning to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to create new pump stations, raise roads, and revamp sewer and storm drainage systems.  The linked article addressed but one piece of the whole project, but the conflicts raised are significant, as residents and developers and government officials all argue over impacts and costs. 

There are no easy answers for Miami.  For example, in the PBS episode, the effects of Miami's unique "King Tides" (see photo from Miami Herald article, above) is noted.  This particular type of flooding is caused by seawater pushing up through the porous limestone upon which the city rests, which in turn pushes ground water up through every possible orifice (including sanitary sewers) into streets and neighborhoods.  The "King Tide" flooding is not only damaging and annoying, but it is also dangerous, as it brings with it potential hazards to local health.

The phenomenon also negates the effects of many traditional attempts to keep flooding at bay (like pumps, dikes, etc.) because the water simply comes right back through the limestone and comes up behind the barriers.  As one expert interviewed in the program says, "We can't build our way out of the (flooding) problem."

Read more here: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/miami-beach/article129284119.html#storylink=cpy