The confetti has settled from Miami Beach’s week-long birthday bash. Now the city is back to work at combating sea level rise with a panel discussion Monday night at City Hall.
Florida International University is also getting involved in the talks.
“Our biggest strength is reaching out and understand that we don’t know all the solutions and are willing to ask,” said Bruce Mowry, a City of Miami Beach engineer.
The solutions so far include water pumps, dunes, Everglades restoration and seawalls.
FIU architect professor MarilysNepomechie cites raising the city as another solution. Structures on the mainland such as the AmericanAirlines Arena and the Perez Art Museum are already elevated up to 20 feet above sea level.
Nepomechie's future is one where the urban and natural environments work in tandem.
“There will be a lot more water-based transportation than we have today. There may be fewer streets, there may be fewer cars, there may be more public transit,” Nepomechie said.
Until then, the efforts continue. Miami Beach will host its annual environmental film festival from April 15-19.
FIU just had an exhibition at the Coral Gables Museum featuring sea level rise research from its architecture department. The department is currently working on a website version of the exhibit.