Following severe damage suffered in 2016 from Hurricane Matthew, the City of St. Augustine commissioned McKim & Creed to provide design, permitting and construction services for the Lake Maria Sanchez flood mitigation and drainage project. The project included designing stormwater pump stations, stormwater conveyance and treatment systems, bulkheads and recreational facilities.
As part of this resiliency project to improve drainage and mitigate storm surge and nuisance tidal flooding, the City chose to leverage current technologies to prevent backflow in conjunction with the installation of conveyance improvements and a stormwater pump station. This infrastructure was designed to pump stormwater out of the project area during periods of high water in the Matanzas River.
The City acquired federal HMGP funding for the project, which encompassed approximately 200 acres of the City’s downtown area and included residential and commercial properties, churches, Flagler College, City Hall and historically significant buildings and monuments/structures. The project was designed to provide protection to 216 structures for a 10-year storm event and protection to 270 structures for a 25-year storm event. The design also incorporated a recreational component such as walking/multi-use trail system around Lake Maria Sanchez.