Getting Started
Document Actions
The Florida Keys: Canary in the Coal Mine for Climate Impacts
by Don KnappGuest Blogger: Rebecca Carter, PhD, ICLEI Climate Adaptation Manager; Part 1 in a series (read Part 2 here)
While the impacts of climate change may seem somewhat abstract and distant in many communities, they are becoming very real in the Florida Keys. Sea level rise and water supply challenges are already affecting Key West, and there is concern about how such changes will affect the region’s protected places and endangered species.
“We are feeling some of the most severe impacts of climate change first, and we have no escape route,” says Alison Higgins, President of Florida Keys Green Living and Energy Education and staff of The Nature Conservancy, thinking about the limitations to adaptation in the Keys. “We’re the canary in the coal mine for climate change impacts in the U.S…We want to be seen as an example of why it’s important for other local governments to work hard on [climate] mitigation [to reduce carbon emissions.] Because that’s going to help us, and themselves.”
Higher Tides = More Flooding
Key West is already taking action to lessen the negative effects of impacts such as sea level rise and water shortages. The community of about 26,000 residents is undertaking about $40 million in road repairs, some of which are needed due to sea level rise pushing high tides higher than ever before. Annalise Mannix, Environmental Programs Manager and Volunteer Coordinator for the City of Key West, notes that about 10 of the community’s roads now flood regularly during many high tides—including iconic Duval Street, one of the community’s most historic main streets.
Mannix, a resident of Key West for 19 years, says that while some water used to flow out of the storm drains during extreme high tides, some roads now flood much more frequently and stay flooded longer because sea level rise has left nowhere for the water to drain. One project, funded by a Department of Transportation grant, will allow the city to elevate a frequently flooded road by 12 inches—at a cost of $300,000 for a few hundred feet. The city has also received FEMA grants to elevate three houses and design new storm water pumping stations.
Uncertainties Around Water Supply
Key West is also working to avoid potential climate-related disruptions to its water supply, which is piped in from two well fields near Miami, about 130 miles away. In the Keys and much of southern Florida, a shallow freshwater “lens” floats on top of heavier salt water that moves in and out of a porous limestone base. In the recent drought, freshwater was drawn down so much that saltwater came close to contaminating the water supply; if this had happened, the wells would have been shut down for 15 years to reclaim them.
To avoid this, Key West and the Keys imposed severe water use restrictions. Fortunately, enough rain fell in time, and disaster was averted—but the city has no desire to tempt fate again, especially when drought is expected to become more frequent and severe in a warming world. To prepare for the future, the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority is installing a reverse osmosis plant that will treat brackish water in the wells so that it can be used when needed.
A Plan for Climate Adaptation
Key West is planning ahead for climate protection in other ways as well. The city’s climate action plan is due to be released in July 2009. The plan originally focused only on mitigation (reducing carbon emissions), but is being expanded to include adaptation information as well. The plan will identify which roads, infrastructure, and systems would be most affected by a 12-inch sea level rise, and will also include ecological changes, such as which natural areas might transition from hardwood hammocks to tidal wetlands as the sea level continues to rise. It will recommend that a team be formed to address how best to begin to adapt to these projected changes.
While Key West is beginning to plan for the climate impacts it is already experiencing and that will continue in the coming years, others are considering additional effects at even longer time scales. Read Part 2 of this story, which delives into this issue.
