News

In Monroe County, flooding at several residential neighborhood hotspots—including Big Coppitt Key and Winston Waterways in Key Largo—is already regularly impacting quality of life and access to these communities. To preserve long-term access to homes and help maintain home values, Monroe County has prioritized road elevation and drainage improvements that alleviate roadway flooding. State-of-the-art engineered drainage systems are planned to collect rainfall and mitigate king tides. The new systems will replace existing gravity infiltration that is failing and will continue to worsen as groundwater continues to rise.These projects provide long‑term solutions designed to work under current and future conditions.

In the case of Big Coppitt, the project includes elevating portions of 19 roads between one and 18 inches to meet the minimum design elevation of 2.26 ft. NAVD 88. The Winston Waterways project will elevate portions of 17 roads between one and 23 inches to meet the same NAVD criteria. Both projects will also include construction of a stormwater management system of inlets, pipes, a water treatment unit, pump station with backup generator, and pressurized injection wells for disposal. 

Big Coppitt is estimated to cost $85,867,616; and Winston Water Waters is projected to cost $51,076,085. Provided the projects pass FEMA’s Benefit Cost Analysis, the county will receive $84.5 million and $51.5 million in federal and state funds, respectively, to fund these projects. 

County staff are working to develop cost-effective operations and maintenance estimates to calculate the annual assessment needed to maintain the enhanced stormwater system. The county is also in the process of finalizing the “Residential Neighborhood Improvement Program,” which provides residents the opportunity to vote on whether to move forward with the project or not. A “Financial Hardship Deferral Program” is also being developed, allowing deferral of an assessment for those meeting the income and asset guidelines.