(WSVN) - A bill to study and monitor flood gates in both Miami-Dade and Broward County is currently making its way through the Florida House of Representatives.
The issue at hand centers around canal gates that are opened when water levels, especially in inland neighborhoods, are high. They allow gravity to do the work, letting the water flow downward toward the ocean.
However, a 2009 study identified 18 water control structures in Miami-Dade and Broward that are within six inches of failure.
The bipartisan bill by State Rep. Robin Bartleman of Weston and State Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez of Doral hopes to study an aging canal system to fend off severe flooding due to sea rise.
“As a taxpayer, I want to know that my government is doing everything I can to protect my home, to protect my business and so this now builds in that kind of level of accountability for taxpayers,” said Bartleman. “So if they ignore those reports, it’s gonna be our job to hold them accountable but at least we have the reports now. No one can say, ‘Well, I didn’t know the gates were gonna break.'”
Experts have said that sea levels are expected to rise three inches in the next decade.
“I’m sure, 70 years ago, when that was created, there weren’t people foreseeing all the things that were going to be happening now in 2022,” said Rodriguez. “It’s basically a measure to make sure that we are headed in the right direction and that the controls that we have in place are working properly and that they are protecting us the way they need to be.”
County experts noted it’s not the areas near the gates that are potentially at risk but large swaths of South Florida.
“This impacts 11 million people and one-third of Florida’s economy,” said Bartleman.
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