Participatory Climate Adaptation in Coastal Florida: Increasing Roles for Water-Users and Independent Science

A primary attribute of coastal management in Florida is continued building in coastal flood zones, despite long-standing evidence of rising sea levels. Time is increasingly short to focus on more rigorous management policies that actualize long term adaptation to sea level rise. The real estate industry and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are among the primary economic and political drivers of hundreds of construction projects in coastal Florida flood zones. There is evidence of chronic differences between the professional and political cultures of real estate and engineering when compared to resident water users and scientists not dependent on consulting contracts, though distinctions are not always binary. Leading representatives of water-user groups, independent scientists, and others are now coordinating to: 1) improve the public participation of local stakeholders in coastal management; 2) increase the quantity of independent research; and 3) apply improved information towards long-term coastal adaptation needs in Florida. The recent examination and prevention of a major coastal dredge and fill permit in Lake Worth, FL, derives from these trends. Findings with state or national management significance that resulted from this litigation include: advances in sediment and reef turbidity policies, higher standards for sediment transport models, and enhanced rights for career water-users to testify as expert witnesses. Coastal management can become more sustainable if proactive strategic relocation enters the planning toolbox and if the actual water-users, independent scientists, and other actors (who don’t benefit from building in flood zones), coordinate to foster more participatory sea level rise adaptation to manage natural and social capital, as well as built capital.