Brochures and Government Documents
There is no shortage of state-generated materials about the fragile nature of Florida’s environment, but private interests have traditionally shown little concern for the impact of their developments. That impact can be measured in many ways, from the health of coral reefs and sea grass to the flooding caused by storms and hurricanes. The most desired real estate in Florida most commonly borders bodies of water. Unfortunately, building houses, hotels and condos along waterfronts has had disastrous effects on the environment and flooding within the state. Development along beaches throughout the state has destroyed barrier islands and sea dunes that functioned as natural obstacles to erosion during high storm surges. Beach renourishment is often used to temporarily solve the problem of erosion by dredging fill from offshore and depositing it on shorelines. However, the consistency of the renourished beaches makes it difficult for endangered sea turtles to lay eggs, makes a poor nest for shore birds and does not address the original problem of erosion. It is estimated that a storm surge of six to eight feet--a category two hurricane--would put the entire downtown Tampa, downtown St. Petersburg, South Tampa, Oldsmar and beach coasts under water. A category four hurricane on the other hand, has the potential to completely envelop many of the barrier islands along the Pinellas coast and cause catastrophic damage to the Tampa Bay area. It is estimated that one acre of wetland can hold up to 1.5 million gallons of floodwater. Yet with much of the mangroves and salt marshes that once lined the bays and inlets of the Tampa Bay region destroyed by development, only buildings and pavement will obstruct hurricanes and massive erosion in the future.
 Weisburg, Robert and Zehn, Lianyuan. “Hurricane Storm Surge Simulations for Tampa Bay.” Estuaries and Coasts. University of South Florida: College of Marine Science. Vol. 28, No. 6A, Dec. 2006. Assessed 24 August 2011. http://sgs.usf.edu/content/rtb-11/Weisberg2.pdf