Sarasota County has completed a master plan of its watersheds in the wake of last year's hurricanes. If adopted, it would allow county homeowners to get discounted rates on flood insurance.
The plan looks at how future storms will impact the county, including sea level rise and climate change. It also maps out wetlands and natural water channels that can be used to hold rainwater during hurricanes.
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The county consultant for the plan, Fred Bloetscher of Florida Atlantic University, said the purpose is to be part of the community rating system for the National Flood Insurance Program. This would allow residents to get to the next level of flood insurance reduction.
"We'll identify problem areas, and the problem areas then will go into more detailed stormwater master plans and modeling that will come up with specific solutions for those areas," he said during a recent Zoom conference. "There's engineering that can occur, and ultimately, if this makes sense to the community, there'll be construction."
The plan also looks at potential impacts of sea level rise along the county's barrier islands. Building sea walls and raising structures will likely have to happen, Bloetscher said.
He said the county is looking at sea level rise in 50-year segments.
"And that means that nobody has to really do anything today, but it might be something for the future as redevelopment occurs," he said.
As for limiting development density in floodplains, he said: "The county and the city obviously could look and say, 'Hey, wait a minute, density is such that if we were to go redevelop and alter the current patterns, we can reduce the amount of flooding that would be there.' "
"That would be a policy decision, but it's not one of the solutions or really the discussion items that CRS wants you to look at," he said, referring to Sarasota County’s Community Rating System (CRS) classification. "CRS, the program, helps set your flood insurance rates. So, taking it into account, doing less doesn't really do anything for your flood insurance."
