When I was a kid growing up in Indialucie, named so as it is located between the Indian River Lagoon and the St Lucie River….it flooded a lot. We kids loved it. We would play and play! Just like kids did in the Town of Sewall’s Point when it rained so hard the past couple of days. I was told yesterday by Pam Hopkins, water quality specialist, at Florida Oceanographic that their gauge showed 8.5 inches!
Rain is not the problem. It’s the drainage…
Florida was drained so agriculture and development could flourish. But we have literally outgrown the plumbing system of the 1920, 30s, 40, 50, 60, and 70s….we must begin to think anew.
Rain events like the past couple of days allow us to clearly see the problem and to be creative in thinking about solutions. —-One thing is clear, when Lake Okeechobee’s water is added on top of such events, “not only are we flooded, but we are drowning.”
Whether it is the overflow waters of Lake Okeechobee, runoff from area canals, or “local flood waters,” such experiences highlight the need for storage, as fresh water is a resource and should not be wasted.
I have used the basin/canal map a lot recently as it applies to just about everything. Here you can see the drainage system draining the lands into the SRL/IRL; of course there is other local infrastructure drainage such as street “gutters,” drains, and underground piping that do not show up on this map. In any case, the goal is to “get the water off the land as soon as possible” and drain it to the lowest point, the river……
Well that has got to change.
BELOW, HUTCHINSON ISLAND, FLORIDA OCEANOGRAPHIC AREA/PUBLIX
Video of storm water going into local drainage system:(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTN51n6ICMI)
To get the current conditions of drainage from canals around Lake O excluding C-23, C-24, and C-25 see this ACOE link; also the drainage from around the coastal area like Stuart, Sewall’s Point etc…is not shown here but estimated in other models.
Current Conditions report ACOE drainage: (http://w3.saj.usace.army.mil/h2o/reports/StatusDaily_files/slide0178.htm)
ACOE J-ville, C-44 (http://w3.saj.usace.army.mil/h2o/reports.htm)
SFWMD shows canals C-23, C-24 and C-25 but it is deeply imbedded and hard to find: (http://www.sfwmd.gov/portal/page/portal/sfwmdmain/home%20page)
Nice blog and great conclusions!
I believe drainage is an engineering problem and a lot can be learned of how big ag maintains absolute control of the ground water level— At the bottom of some storm drains is a dirt leg to catch dirt. My idea of storm water treatment is to put sea shells in this dirt leg so when they churn violently the hydrogen peroxide will clean the muck out of the pipes. Thanks for the blog.
I like you idea of putting shells in the dirt. Thanks Brent.
Hi Jacqui, I ran into Henry Copeland at the Metropolitan Planning Organization open house on Wednesday; he said he was definitely running for Doug’s seat-again. Seems he has run at least the last two times. Hopefully Doug will not run because two opponents will split the vote again. I still don’t understand an election rule which allows one to win with less than 50% of the vote, but that is what has kept him in the last two times. You probably already knew this, but I told Henry that if Doug does run he should drop out. Don’t think he will; big ego there. Best regards, Mac
Our rain barrels are full … We will be using this water on a dry day so it can filter through our plants and trees and reach our River and Ocean cleaner.
That’s great Valerie. Rain Barrels are such a good idea!
A dirt leg is a dead end pipe that catchs dirt. some storm drains like the one shown have them at the bottom and some dont
Thanks Jacqui. My middle school STEM class is researching ways to mitigate our campus flooding such as green planted roofs. We are creating models and will be testing them using the Engineering Design Model process.Your post was filled with interesting information!
Thank you Lori—the kids have new perspectives on such things. Wonderful they are thinking about this now. Thank you so much for all you do.Glad the post was useful. 🙂