(JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Sept. 28, 2022 – Lt. Gen. Scott A. Spellmon, commanding general of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, signed the Chief’s Report for the Miami-Dade County Coastal Storm Risk Management (CSRM) Study, recommending the study’s findings for authorization by Congress.
“This is great news and an important milestone for USACE, the Jacksonville District and Miami-Dade County,” said Col. James Booth, Jacksonville District commander. “This plan significantly adds to the County’s current efforts to promote resiliency and reduce the risks of coastal storm damage.”
The study began in October 2018 and addressed critical infrastructure, evacuation route protection, and structure damage reduction in response to coastal storm risks and considering sea level change. CSRM studies analyze and assess the economic, environmental, and social effects and formulate plans to address a local or regional issue with a goal to select, refine and present an optimal alternative that will be authorized and implemented on a cost shared basis with the non-federal sponsor.
The authority for this project is Section 216 of the Flood Control Act of 1970, Public Law 91-611 (33 U.S.C. 549a), which authorizes the Secretary of the Army , acting through the Chief of Engineers, to review the operation of projects for which construction has been completed and which were constructed in the interest of navigation, flood control, water supply, and related purposes, when found advisable due to significantly changed physical or economic conditions, and to recommend to Congress on the advisability of modifying the structures or their operation, and for improving the quality of the environment in the overall public interest. This report is an interim response to the study authority.
USACE’s Jacksonville District, in collaboration with Norfolk District, completed the study. Miami-Dade County was the study’s non-federal sponsor.
The Chief’s Report will undergo further review by the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works and Office of Management and Budget before formal submittal to Congress. After congressional authorization, the project would be eligible for construction appropriations.
The recommended plan includes the following measures to reduce coastal storm risk and damage throughout the Miami-Dade Coastal area:
- Structures and infrastructure along the Miami-Dade County, Florida, shoreline are vulnerable to damage from erosion, flooding and waves caused by coastal storms. This study investigates alternatives for a plan that addresses these vulnerabilities, as well as provides incidental opportunities for maintaining recreation and habitat along the shoreline of Miami-Dade County, Florida. This study only evaluates the Atlantic Ocean shoreline. It does not evaluate the coastal storm risks of the interior back bay shorelines of the barrier islands or the Miami-Dade County mainland. The non-federal sponsor of the study is Miami-Dade County, Florida.
- This single purpose Coastal Storm Risk Management (CSRM) study focuses on the damaging forces of erosion, flooding, and wave attack during coastal storms that threaten structures and infrastructure fronting the Atlantic Ocean in Miami-Dade County, Florida. This area is highly vulnerable to sea level change (SLC) which is expected to exacerbate these damaging forces into the future.
The study team has produced a draft report, which is currently available for public review and comment on this website from Nov. 12, 2020 until Dec. 12, 2020. The report has considered an array of alternatives and their effects, under NEPA and recommends an alternative as the tentatively selected plan (TSP).
The public can obtain news, updates and information from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District on the district’s website at https://www.saj.usace.army.mil/, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/JacksonvilleDistrict and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/JaxStrong.
To learn more about the project, visit https://www.saj.usace.army.mil/MiamiDadeCSRM/