Oakland Park staff outline $4.6M stormwater plan, seek easements from Lake Emerald residents

City staff detailed a grant-funded stormwater project intended to reduce flooding in northwest Oakland Park and asked residents of Lake Emerald and nearby neighborhoods to consider granting drainage easements for new culverts and an outfall to the C-13 Canal.

The presentation outlined a fully designed project with pending permits and roughly $4,600,000 identified for construction, including a 50% grant match (a $2,300,000 Florida resiliency grant and local matching funds), and said the work would serve about a 575-acre drainage area and include a proposed 48-inch culvert outfall to the C-13 Canal.

The city said the plan is intended to improve drainage and lower peak lake elevations after major storms, which staff said have become more frequent and severe; they cited the April 2023 event that dropped more than 25 inches of rain at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and said the county’s 2022 stormwater master plan identifies over $50 million in needed improvements over 15 years.

Chris, a city staff member leading the presentation, said the design would include control structures so canal water…