Sustainability and Resiliency


Sustainability is the ability to maintain or preserve something over time, such as the use of resources so as not to deplete them for use in our generation or for generations to come. 

Resiliency is the ability to recover from a shock or disturbance, which refers to a communities ability to recover from disaster, climate change, and other environmental challenges.

Planning

(in review) 2025: Multijurisdictional Local Mitigation Strategy 5 year Update: For more information about the plan update, visit the project website at https://www.monroecountyfl-lms.com/. On this site you will find information about upcoming and past Local Mitigation Strategy Working Group meetings and public meetings, a link for the public survey, draft documents, and other mitigation planning resources.

(in progress) 2024-2026: Roads Elevation Study was initiated in February 2024 and is expected to include public engagement in Fall 2025, and conclude early 2026 with a plan to highlight local roadway vulnerabilities and an adaptation plan moving forward. More info below. 

2024-2025 Feasibility Study for Artificial Reef/Breakwater at two recommended locations from Vulnerability Assessment. 

2024: Most up to date Mobile LIDAR roadway elevation data for Islamorada owned roads and the other municipalities in Monroe County. 

2024: Vulnerability Assessment A comprehensive analysis of Islamorada's critical assets run through scenarios of flooding and flood events, and even compound flooding (sea level rise, rainfall events, tidal flooding). Version OptionsSustainability and ResiliencyHeadlinePlanningDevelopmen View the full report here. 

2018: US Army Corp Of Engineers Coastal Storm Risk Management Feasibility Study  to address critical-infrastructure and evacuation-route protection, along with structural-damage reduction, in response to coastal storm risks and effects and associated impacts such as sea-level rise, storm surge, and extreme wind and tidal effects. Project lasted 3 years, with a final report issued in 2021. Currently awaiting federal funding. 

2016: Sustainability Plan 2016 In order to contribute to a greener planet, the Village of Islamorada seeks to enact policies to reduce global warming pollution levels and provide economic and quality of life benefits such as reduced energy bills, green space preservation, air quality improvements and energy conservation.

2016: Islamorada Matters A plan to enhance, preserve and protect our quality of life, focusing on five areas: habitat, infrastructure and built environment, village buildings and key facilities, adaptation strategies, and sustainability. 

2007: Islamorada adopted its first Environmental Sustainability Plan

Background

Not all communities will experience sea level rise in the same way or within the same timeframes. Context for Islamorada was established through the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact. The NOAA Key West tide gauge has collected over 100 years of data. A Vulnerability Assessment for Islamorada was completed in June 2024.  This assessment will guide Islamorada in establishing Adaptation Strategies (application for Resilient Florida planning funding Fall 2024) for the specific challenges that face the community in a timeframe that is applicable and realistic. The final planning component is to determine how to Implement Strategies into Islamorada's plan with existing resources and into other existing planning products and processes. (Florida Adaptation Planning Guidebook, 2018). 

Context: Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact (SFRCCC)

The Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact is a partnership between Broward, Miami-Dade, Monroe, and Palm Beach Counties, to work collaboratively to reduce regional greenhouse gas emissions, implement adaptation strategies, and build climate resilience across the Southeast Florida region. 

Islamorada signed the SFRCCC Climate Pledge July 6, 2023 which adopts the updated projections as the basis for future sea-level rise adaptation planning activities and provides guidance documents updated every 4 to 5 years. This Unified Sea Level Rise projection for Southeast Florida updated in 2019 projects the anticipated range of sea level rise for the region from 2000 to 2120. The projection can be used to estimate future potential sea level elevations in Southeast Florida and the relative change in sea level from today to a point in the future. The guidance report contains directions and specific examples of how the projection can be used by local governments, planners, designers, engineers, and developers. 

Sea level measured at the Key West gauge has risen approximately 3.9 inches from 2000 to 2017. According to the graph, the mean sea level rise is projected to be the following:

  • 10 to 17 inches from 2000 to 2040 (sea levels have already risen 4 inches through 2017, this means a net additional 6 to 13 inches is projected from 2018 to 2040.)
  • 21 to 54 inches from 2000 to 2070 (sea levels have already risen 4 inches through 2017, this means a net additional 17 to 50 inches from 2018 to 2070.)
  • 40 to 136 inches by 2120

Vulnerability Assessment

The Vulnerability Assessment is a comprehensive analysis of Islamorada's critical assets run through scenarios of flooding and flood events, and even compound flooding (sea level rise, rainfall events, tidal flooding). This project is fully funded through the FDEP Resilient Florida grant program, and utilizes FDEP required planning timeframes of 2040 and 2070, and one step further analyzing 2100, utilizing the most up to date data including the NOAA intermediate low sea level rise projections (NIL) and NOAA intermediate high sea level rise projections (NIH). Islamorada is taking a proactive approach to planning and ensuring compatibility with Florida Statute to open up opportunities for potential future funding for resiliency projects. This analysis will highlight zones in Islamorada vulnerable to flooding, what kind of flooding, and on what planning horizon, creating a prioritized list of critical assets and projects for mitigation through an analysis of sensitivity and exposure. 

Adaptation Strategies

  • application for planning grant funds pending fall 2024. 

Roads Elevation Study

The Roads Elevation Study kicked off in February of 2024, slated to be complete by the end of 2025. This project follows the Monroe County study completed to create a comprehensive assessment of County/Municipality maintained roads and stormwater features against future conditions of flooding, sea level rise, and tidal influences.  See the Monroe County example https://www.keysroadsplan.com/. 

Islamorada owns and maintains 69 miles of roadway, which are crucial to our residents for evacuation routes and safety, and the basics of day to day life. This project merges the latest elevation data and sea level rise modeling with transportation engineering and planning to develop a long-term roads adaptation plan, incorporating adaptation methodology, policy/financing evaluation, and public/stakeholder engagement.  Public engagement opportunities expected for early-mid 2025. 

Development

The Florida Legislature designated the Florida Keys Area of Critical State Concern in 1974 due to the area’s environmental sensitivity and mounting development pressures. The designation allows the State of Florida to promote state and regional interests in the use and development of land with the intent to improve water quality, protect habitat and ensure the safe evacuation of the population of the Florida Keys in the event of a disaster. 

Sustainable and resilient design principles follow the triple bottom line, the balancing of environmental, economic, and social factors, and are crucial to promote in an Area of Critical State Concern and especially with the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary surrounding the islands. The development within Islamorada will have a direct affect on life in and around the Village. 


The Building Permit Allocation System (BPAS) was designed to be a points based system for issuing building permits, investing points in areas such as water conservation, energy conservation, habitat protection, land dedication, lower impact development, floodplain management, social equity, safety, and structural resiliency to protect and promote a sustainable community and push for higher resiliency standards. 

New development and re-development are required to meet certain standards, but should practice and strive for the highest standards in energy efficiency, renewable energy deployment, life cycle analysis of materials, and appropriate planning horizons for the latest data trends in sea level rise projections.