\u201cIn engineering, we have a saying, there\u2019s 1,000 ways to skin a cat,\u201d said Council Member Fernando Vazquez, an environmental engineer who has \u2014 up until now \u2014 been solidly behind the large pump system recommended by his former firm, AECOM. \u201cPerhaps we are in a position of re-imagining how we should approach drainage.\u201d <\/p>\n
He continued:\u00a0\u201cI am opening the door to allow this to present itself and see what it allows.\u201d <\/p>\n
If Vazquez were to add his voice to longtime Big Dig critic Ed London, another council member, it could delay further the Resilient Infrastructure Adaptation Program, the project\u2019s formal name.<\/p>\n
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Council Member Fernando Vazquez at the May 13, 2025 Council meeting. (KBI Photo\/John Pacenti)<\/p>\n
A supermajority of five votes is required to borrow funds under the Village Charter. Council Member Michael Bracken has also raised questions about the AECOM plan, but has sided with the majority in approving spending so far.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Steve Williamson, the village manager and former Army Corps of Engineers officer who has made Zone 1 his signature project, said Sunday that while he doesn\u2019t question engineer Giorgio Tachiev\u2019s reasoning, he\u2019s not sold that it is a practical alternative.<\/p>\n
The document, obtained through a public records request by the Independent, was commissioned by the Village Council to investigate an alternative to digging trenches, burying huge new pipes, and building pumping stations to move water off the land and into Biscayne Bay. Phase one of the project has an $80 million estimate, a price that has drawn increasing criticism and concern.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the time horizon,\u201d Williamson said, saying GIT\u2019s concept might not be as adaptable as the AECOM approach which can stretch to 2060. He asked if residents will want to pay for another round of stormwater upgrades a decade or two from now.<\/p>\n
Williamson also said he\u2019s not sure there will be a sufficient number of locations to site eight or more storage wells.<\/p>\n
By contrast, Tachiev\u2019s GIT suggests a different response to increasing rainfall and sea levels. It focuses on a less expensive, targeted system. It would use smaller pumps to move water into underground storage wells that would in turn use the existing set of drainage pipes to more slowly move the water into the Bay.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u201cA distributed system \u2026 provides a more flexible and cost-efficient means of routing stormwater from localized depressions, managing groundwater\u2013surface-water interactions, and meeting water-quality requirements,\u201d the report states.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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A car splashes up water as once again Key Biscayne surface streets flood due to a rain deluge on Aug. 31, 2025. (KBI Photo\/Tony Winton)<\/p>\n
The 95-page report stops short of a formal recommendation \u2014 that\u2019s for a later phase. But it\u00a0 does discuss in intricate complexity \u2014 with charts and algebraic equations \u2014 the mechanism of\u00a0 how streets actually flood in major rain events. It stresses that rainwater just doesn\u2019t fall \u2014 it\u00a0 moves in currents up, down, and crossways across island streets, and is pressured by tidal forces. These patterns and loops can reverse themselves during the day as tide levels change and create \u201cmicro-basins\u201d that can be up to 3 feet deep.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s looking at that significantly and how the tide variates with groundwater, which is not what AECOM was doing,\u201d Vazquez said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
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In this diagram from GIT Consulting, arrows indicate stormwater flow during a heavy rain event in June 2022. Village of Key Biscayne via KBI)<\/p>\n
The\u00a0 way the village floods, the report argues, is grounds for rethinking the Big Dig\u2019s centralized approach to reducing flood risk, wrote Tachiev, GIT\u2019s principal officer. Tachiev, who was the engineer for the Village\u2019s last set of stormwater projects, said that the current system designed by the AECOM firm may not be as effective as a spot approach.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe presence of micro-basins underscores the need for localized interventions, such as distributed pump stations and drainage wells, which directly address sub-basin ponding characteristics and reduce reliance on long, flat conveyance pathways,\u201d the report states.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Williamson said he expects that GIT will have a more detailed feasibility document by April, far into the planning for the 2027 Village budget. And he noted that the availability of state and federal funds is another factor to be considered, as Gov. Ron DeSantis and state GOP leaders consider major changes to the property tax system. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a risk,\u201d Williamson said, especially if one of the more aggressive tax proposals is eventually adopted by Florida voters. \u201cWe may not be doing either one of them, depending on what decision Tallahassee makes, and so I certainly hope saner heads prevail.\u201d<\/p>\n
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