Pinellas County Awarded $700,000 Grant To Continue Flood Vulnerability Assessment

PINELLAS COUNTY, FL — Pinellas County was awarded $700,000 in grant funding from the state of Florida’s Resilient Florida Grant Program to complete the second phase of the county’s Sea Level Rise and Storm Surge Vulnerability Assessment.

In phase one of the assessment, Pinellas County created more than 100 flood maps for various sea-level rise scenarios out to the year 2100, along with storm surge and tidal flooding projections to help categorize levels of vulnerability for various types of infrastructure.

Results of the final assessment from phase two will provide new data to the county to develop natural and engineered adaption strategies, including the design and planning of infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, stormwater management systems and wastewater treatment facilities.

“Our goal is to create a more resilient Pinellas County for the future of our community,” said Hank Hodde, Pinellas County’s sustainability and resiliency coordinator. “Using the best available data and science will help us lead the way in addressing current-day hazards and future climate impacts. We appreciate the state for their support in our current and upcoming efforts.”

The assessment results will be announced when completed. Updates on Pinellas County sustainability and resiliency efforts can be found here.

Pinellas County received one of 98 awards totaling nearly $20 million announced by Gov. Ron DeSantis May 3 from the Resilient Florida Grant Program. This award adds to the $28.6 million previously received from the grant program in February.

Other receiving awards include:

• $75,000 for a Davis Islands Pilot Study to assess the vulnerability of the stormwater system
• $75,000 for a Port Tampa Bay vulnerability assessment and adaptation plan
• $495,000 for a city of Tampa citywide vulnerability assessment plan
• 75,000 to Pasco County for its 2050 Comprehensive Plan Update to include peril of flood draft amendments
• $75,000 for a city of Port Richey Resiliency Plan and peril of flood amendments
• City-wide vulnerability assessment
• $185,000 to the city of New Port Richey for a sea-level rise flooding vulnerability assessment
• $64,000 to the city of St. Petersburg for a beach vulnerability assessment
• $75,000 to the city of Tarpon Springs for a vulnerability assessment and action plan
• $197,848 to the city of Clearwater for a citywide vulnerability assessment

Additionally, DeSantis announced that the Department of Environmental Protection has opened the application portal for Resilient Florida Planning Grants for Fiscal Year 2022-23. The application portal can be found here.

“For the first time, Florida has strategic coordination guiding statewide efforts to protect coastal and inland infrastructure, and dedicated funding to support these projects,” said DeSantis. “These grants will strengthen Florida’s infrastructure to withstand the impacts of flooding and storm surge. My administration will continue the momentum to support resilience in communities across the state.”

Vulnerability assessments are required to assess and identify critical infrastructure at risk of flooding from sea-level rise, storm surge and rainfall events. The assessments assist local communities in prioritizing and developing implementation strategies and projects designed to reduce, alleviate or mitigate the effects of flooding.

“Today is another example of the leadership of Gov. DeSantis, the Florida Legislature and local governments in action across our state to tackle resilience,” said DEP Secretary Shawn Hamilton. “These planning grants will provide critical information to better enhance and protect critical infrastructure from the impacts of sea-level rise, flooding and storm events, ensuring the safety and resilience of Florida communities.”

The 2021-22 budget included funding to support the most significant investment in the state’s history — more than $640 million — to increase efforts to ensure state and local communities are prepared to deal with the impacts of sea-level rise, intensified storms and flooding.

DeSantis' announcement follows the award of grants totaling over $404 million for 113 environmental resilience projects across the state, earlier this year.

“Today’s announcement of $20 million in Resilient Florida Planning Grants represents the ongoing fulfillment of the commitment that our governor and the Legislature have made to ensure that all of Florida’s communities have access to the tools and resources necessary to build a resilient future,” said Chief Resilience Officer Dr. Wes Brooks, the state's first resilience officer. “Because of the state-supported assessments to be derived from these awards, Floridians can be confident that future investments towards flood resilience efforts in these communities will be based on the best available science and risk modeling. And Florida will continue to lead on resilience through action.”

“Gov. Ron DeSantis continues to lead Florida into a more resilient future,” said Chauncey Goss, chairman of the South Florida Water Management District. “As the operator of one of the world’s largest and most complex water management systems, we appreciate the governor’s leadership and his continued investment in resilient solutions that further protect our communities from flooding while improving Florida’s water management systems. This is what ‘doing more now’ looks like.”

In December, Gov. DeSantis announced the state’s first-ever Flooding Resilience Plan which proposed 76 projects across the state totaling over $270 million and was fully funded during the 2022 legislative session. DEP accepted applications through its online portal through Sept. 1, 2021.

A list of the original 76 projects in the plan can be found here.

The list of projects awarded May 3 can be found here.