Fort Lauderdale outlines Tranche 2 stormwater work: 17 neighborhoods, phased designs and new pump stations

City of Fort Lauderdale staff and consultant Hazen and Sawyer presented Tranche 2 of the city’s Fortify Lauderdale stormwater program at a public virtual meeting, describing conceptual designs for roughly 17 neighborhoods grouped into 12 projects and a phased schedule that the city expects to move into design, permitting and construction over the next decade.

The presentation, led by Hazen and Sawyer project manager Robert (Rob) Taylor and planning lead Lucia Medina, covered the program’s modeling and field‑survey work, a toolbox of adaptation strategies, coordination with Broward County on a conceptual permit and next steps for neighborhood outreach. Taylor said Tranche 2 “is part of what we are calling Fortify Lauderdale,” and that the city expanded an originally smaller list to about 17 neighborhoods after recent extreme rainfall events.

Officials said the Tranche 2 neighborhoods were analyzed using an updated stormwater master‑plan model that incorporates digital elevation data, the city’s drainage inventory and revised rainfall inputs reflecting observed increases in rainfall volumes. Medina said field crews surveyed each Tranche 2 neighborhood in wet and dry conditions and uploaded findings into a Power BI dashboard to identify common bottlenecks and outfalls.

Why it matters

City staff said Tranche 2 is the largest public‑investment component of Fortify Lauderdale, intended to reduce recurrent street and yard flooding worsened by heavier rainfall and tidal interactions. The program packages neighborhoods into 12 projects (labeled A through L) and plans to group work into three sets of roughly four projects each. City presenters said they expect to begin the first group of projects in early 2025 and aim to complete the full tranche by 2034, subject to design, permitting and funding.

Planned tools and designs

Hazen and Sawyer described a “toolbox” of engineering responses tailored to neighborhood conditions: extending or upsizing storm lines, raising or rehabilitating swales, installing or upgrading pump stations, adding one‑way tidal (check) valves on outfalls, localized capital maintenance projects, seawall raises where city seawalls allow, and private‑sector resilience guidance for homeowners and businesses. Medina also said the team is evaluating green‑infrastructure and storage options such as bioswales, bioretention, permeable pavement and rainwater harvesting.

Taylor and Medina emphasized that not every tool applies to every neighborhood and that designs remain conceptual. On pump stations, Taylor said facilities will range from small submersible pumps (with only a control panel visible at grade), to architecturally screened stations that fit into a neighborhood, to larger facilities like the River Oaks station, which serves the largest drainage area in the program.

Permitting, modeling and regional coordination

Presenters said Broward County will review and permit the conceptual designs; the team plans to submit a conceptual permit package as part of the Tranche 2 process. Taylor also noted the team models the downstream effects of pumping and coordinates with regional water managers — including the South Florida Water Management District — to ensure receiving water bodies can accept proposed discharges.

Public outreach and data collection

City staff and Hazen and Sawyer said they have performed 11 in‑person outreach meetings since October 2024 and reported more than 200 flood‑survey submittals from residents. Medina described the city’s online flood survey (linked from the Fortify Lauderdale project pages) that allows residents to drop map pins, upload photos and video, and report up to six flood locations per submission. Presenters asked residents to complete the survey to inform neighborhood‑scale designs and to use the city’s “Fix It Fort Lauderdale” portal for urgent, operational problems.

Funding and schedule

Presenters said the city has secured grant funding in the “tens of millions” of dollars for projects already underway and will continue pursuing grants for additional work. The team reiterated the draft schedule: planning and conceptual design now, then grouping projects into three sets for design, bidding, permitting and construction, with the first of those sets expected to start in early 2025. Final sequencing and prioritization will be discussed at a City Commission conference meeting scheduled for March.

Ending

City staff encouraged residents to use the flood survey, attend follow‑up neighborhood meetings once designs are more developed and to report immediate flooding problems through the Fix It Fort Lauderdale portal. The presentation and meeting recording will be posted to the Fortify Lauderdale project page and the city’s YouTube channel, staff said.