FEDERAL BUDGET INCLUDES $5.5 MILLION FOR FLOODING MITIGATION IN KEY LARGO TWIN LAKES NEIGHBORHOOD

FEDERAL BUDGET INCLUDES $5.5 MILLION FOR FLOODING MITIGATION IN KEY LARGO TWIN LAKES NEIGHBORHOOD

In January, Stephanie Russo, who lives in the Twin Lakes neighborhood, showed State and County officials how flooding affects her and her neighbors’ quality of life when the roads are inundated with up to 2 feet of water, at one point, for 90 consecutive days.

KEY LARGO, FL – With the completion and signing of the 2022 Federal Budget last week, Monroe County successfully secured a federal appropriation earmark of $5.4 million for the Key Largo Twin Lakes neighborhood. The neighborhood experiences frequent flooding for prolonged periods during heavy rainfall, storm surge, high tide, and King Tide events that cause damage to public roads and private properties and creates safety issues for the residents.

“This money was secured thanks to our staff and our federal lobbyist, who jumped on a funding opportunity that hasn’t been available for the past decade,” said Mayor David Rice. “A major thank you to Rep. Carlos Giminez for supporting and advancing this appropriation. Without functioning roadways, operational stormwater systems, and supporting infrastructure, the community cannot remain safe and secure.”

The shovel-ready project consists of road elevation and new drainage and stormwater collection systems and is also funded with Resilience Florida funding appropriated in the state budget. The project is entirely funded with state and federal funds.

Neighborhood-wide flooding mitigation is not easy nor inexpensive. “Water management, stormwater road runoff, and residential properties all have to be considered,” said Director of Roads and Bridges Judy Clarke. “We wish it were as simple as raising the road, but it isn’t.”

The project encompasses 4,633 linear feet of roadway and will protect 105 residential structures in Twin Lakes Subdivision.

Monroe County has been working toward a resilient Florida Keys for more than a decade and has been working on a Roadway Vulnerability Analysis and Capital Plan, which should be finished in June 2022. The plan uses environmental and human-use factors in assessing the flooding vulnerability of 300 miles of county roads. “The vulnerable roads are across the entire Florida Keys; therefore, we will need a united front to move forward on funding and construction alternatives given our preliminary assessments,” said Chief Resilience Officer Rhonda Haag.

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