JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – At a University of North Florida environmental symposium on Friday, Mayor Donna Deegan launched “Resilient Jacksonville,” a 50-year strategy to ensure the River City’s infrastructure is strong enough and adaptable enough to confront flooding and extreme heat.
At the 2023 JEPB-UNF Environmental Symposium, Deegan said that “our literal survival as a city is at stake.”
“By investing in resilience now, we are literally saving ourselves hundreds of millions of dollars in insurance, repair and maintenance costs down the road,” Deegan said. “Jacksonville has the opportunity to become a national leader in resilience. Now we have the roadmap that is going to get us there.”
That road map includes ways to stop the St. Johns River from flooding different neighborhoods, including those prone to flooding on days of heavy rain or when hurricanes strike.
The Resilient Jacksonville plan is laid out at www.resilientjacksonville.com, including 45 different action plans to address challenges in areas like flooding, extreme weather and heat, and even wildfires.
The city said data and science have guided the planning process, and a great deal of care was taken to ensure every corner of Jacksonville was studied.
Jacksonville Resilience Officer Anne Coglianese said the city needs to get ahead of environmental changes.
“We really have to start today in thinking about what is at risk in our city, how we need to grow differently, how we need to design projects differently, and how we need to support residents differently in order to get through unprecedented changes in the future,” Coglianese said.
Officials said the resilience actions proposed are tailored to the many geographies, communities, and ecosystems that make up Jacksonville.
“My hope for this is that no matter where you live in Jacksonville, you are able to see the city effectively responding to a new threat, whether that is increased rainfall that is bringing more flooding, hotter summers or acute heat waves,” Coglianese said. “There are solutions in your neighborhood that can help you withstand these effects.”
READ: Full Resilient Jacksonville plan
A proposed solution for excessive flooding is developing a green stormwater infrastructure program.
The goal would be to reduce water pollution by using things like rain gardens, swales and tree trenches to store stormwater runoff before it can get to sewers, which can cause overflow and flooding.
The concentration would be in flood-prone parts of the city.
The city also plans to relocate city-owned resources outside of a flood plain. Officials say the benefit is cutting the cost of replacing resources that could be damaged or destroyed during a major weather event.
To address excessive heat concerns, the plan suggests investing in the more than 400 parks around Jacksonville and expanding the Jax Ready Alert System for high-heat days. The city would also keep cooling facilities open longer, improve those facilities and possibly add more options for people to go to.
“We are already seeing improved evacuation routes and emergency plans for extreme heat come into play. Our team is working on that on an ongoing basis,” Coglianese said. “We are seeing capital projects being designed differently, and that is a trend we are undertaking. The city is looking at our land development regulations, and if they are sufficient for the level of growth that we are anticipating.”