ADAPTATION STRATEGIES TO MANAGE FLOODING: CASE STUDY ON THE HOOVER DIKE By MATTHEW KALAP A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF URBAN AND REGIONAL PLANNING UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2019 © 2019 Matthew Kalap To future generations ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I want to make sure I thank all my professors, teachers, and mentors for helping me to achieve my goals and realize this work. I could not have written this thesis without the distinguished members of this thesis committee, I thank you Dr. Silver and Dr. Steiner for chairing and co-chairing and I thank you Dr.Noll for being a committee member. The knowledge and expertise you have shared with me during my education at the University of Florida is something I will always carry with me. I thank my mom and entire extended family for supporting me and the goals I have set for myself. I would not have been able to write this without you all. Finally, I thank you the reader. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................................4 LIST OF TABLES ...........................................................................................................................7 LIST OF FIGURES .........................................................................................................................8 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ..........................................................................................................9 ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................10 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................11 2 LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................................13 Flooding ..................................................................................................................................13 Hurricanes ...............................................................................................................................18 Adaptation ...............................................................................................................................20 3 LAKE OKEECHOBEE AND THE HOOVER DIKE ...........................................................24 The Lake .................................................................................................................................25 The Plan ..................................................................................................................................28 1926 and 1928 Hurricanes ......................................................................................................29 The Second Plan .....................................................................................................................34 More Hurricanes, More Plans .................................................................................................35 Current Plans ..........................................................................................................................37 4 METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................................39 Study Area ..............................................................................................................................40 Theoretical Framework ...........................................................................................................41 5 ANALYSIS.............................................................................................................................43 Hurricane King 1950 ..............................................................................................................44 Hurricane Charley 2004 ..........................................................................................................46 Hurricane Frances 2004 ..........................................................................................................48 Hurricane Jeanne 2004 ...........................................................................................................50 Hurricane Wilma 2005 ...........................................................................................................52 6 DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .......................................54 LIST OF REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................58 5 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .........................................................................................................60 6 LIST OF TABLES Table page 5-1 Hurricane King Data ..........................................................................................................45 5-2 Hurricane Charley Data .....................................................................................................47 5-3 Hurricane Frances Data......................................................................................................49 5-4 Hurricane Jeanne Data .......................................................................................................51 5-5 Hurricane Wilma Data .......................................................................................................53 6-1 All Hurricane Data .............................................................................................................55 7 LIST OF FIGURES Figure page 2-1 Image of the Los Angeles River ........................................................................................16 2-2 Graphic depicting a storm surge created by a hurricane as it approaches land .................18 2-3 Hurricane impacts ..............................................................................................................20 2-4 Graphic depicting the cyclical relationship between planning and adaptive capacity ......22 3-1 Map of Florida showing Lake Okeechobee in red letters ..................................................25 3-2 Map of Lake Okeechobee showing outflow through the canal systems ............................26 3-3 Shows the track of the 1926 Hurricane ..............................................................................30 3-4 Shown in green is the 1928 Hurricane, shown in red is the 1926 Hurricane .....................32 3-5 Outlined in blue are the areas flooded by the 1928 Hurricane ..........................................33 3-6 Erosion on lakeside of the Hoover Dike after the 1947 Hurricane ....................................36 3-7 This image shows the existing conditions within the Hoover Dike ..................................37 3-8 This image shows the proposed repair to the Hoover Dike ...............................................38 4-1 This figure shows the case study study area divided into six different basins ..................41 4-2 Theoretical framework .......................................................................................................42 5-1 89 storms that have passed within 65 miles of Lake Okeechobee .....................................43 5-2 This map shows the 9 storms selected from the 89 storms ................................................44 5-3 Hurricane King’s track across Florida ...............................................................................45 5-4 Hurricane Charley wind swath map ...................................................................................47 5-5 Wind swath map for Hurricane Frances ............................................................................49 5-6 Wind swath map for Hurricane Jeanne ..............................................................................51 5-7 Hurricane Wilma wind swath map ....................................................................................53 8 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ACE United States Army Corps of Engineers HHD Herbert Hoover Dike SFWMD South Florida Water Management District. 9 Abstract of Thesis Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Urban and Regional Planning ADAPTATION STRATEGIES TO MANAGE FLOODING: CASE STUDY ON THE HOOVER DIKE By Matthew Kalap December 2019 Chair: Christopher Silver Cochair: Ruth Steiner Major: Urban and Regional Planning Floods can be a catastrophic event. One specific adaptation strategy to manage flooding in South Florida is the Herbert Hoover Dike (Hoover Dike). The aim of this thesis is to investigate and determine whether the Hoover Dike has been a successful adaptation to manage flooding in the Lake Okeechobee watershed. The literature reviewed initially suggests that the Hoover Dike has prevented floods from reoccurring in the region and thus, successful. In the analysis however, hurricanes that have affected the Lake Okeechobee watershed have been analyzed and compared to a previous catastrophic flood that occurred in 1928 and proves that the current situation is much more complex.This thesis adds to the existing information concerning the Hoover Dike’s history, implementation and current rehabilitation in addition to its status as a successful adaptation strategy to manage flooding. 10 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Floods can oftentimes be a catastrophic problem for people