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Nassau Bay seeks FEMA grants, plans Lake Nassau dredging and pump upgrades to reduce flooding risk
Summary
City leaders said three FEMA grant projects are in play to deepen Lake Nassau, add 480V/3-phase power and upgrade pumps, and improve electrical redundancy — steps officials said would increase stormwater-handling capacity but may entail environmental tradeoffs.
City officials said they have applications and engineering work underway for three FEMA-funded projects aimed at reducing flood risk by increasing Lake Nassau's storage and upgrading pumping capacity.
Mayor Johnson (S1) told council the projects would allow deeper drawdown of Lake Nassau and support installation of 480-volt, three-phase power to run higher-capacity pumps. “If I have 480 power 3 phase pump system working there ... I'm gonna do 20,000 gallons a minute,” the mayor said, describing the scale of the planned upgrades.
Officials noted tradeoffs: staff (S2) cautioned that lowering the lake significantly without coincident rainfall could create fish-kill risks, and would require ecological recovery time. The city discussed partnering informally with neighboring jurisdictions and the General Land Office on dredging and channel adjustments but said those discussions are preliminary and jurisdiction-dependent.
Mayor Johnson said power outages remain a key vulnerability: the city's plan includes tying upgraded pumps to the water-plant generator and burying electrical lines to reduce outage risk during storms. He said that combination of deeper lake storage and resilient power would materially increase the city's ability to handle heavy rainfall and storm surge.
Ending: Officials said engineering studies and FEMA grant coordination are ongoing; no final construction schedule or grant awards were recorded in the transcript, and staff noted ecological and operational tradeoffs that require further study.
