Marineland Dolphin Adventure FEMA Preliminary Flood Map Appeal, St. Johns County, Florida
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Project Objective

Geosyntec prepared a successful appeal of the preliminary Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM).

Scope of Services

We reassessed the landward location of Flood Zone VE as determined by FEMA on the revised FIRM. Marineland Dolphin Adventure is located behind a granite revetment designed for a 30-year storm event, and the landward extent of the VE zone was based on the assumption of the existence of primary frontal dune (PFD) at this site.

To assess the potential for moving the VE line west and accounting for protection afforded by the revetment, we initiated a preliminary study that required review of the following:

• Preliminary Flood Insurance Study (FIS) report for St. Johns County
• FEMA wave model (WHAFIS) transects
• LiDAR/DEM data used in the models
• Revetment design and peak flood discharge (PFD) occurrence and characteristics in LiDAR and survey data

As part of the successful appeal package submitted to FEMA, we provided the following services:

• Conducted a detailed review of FEMA preliminary data and historic data
• Performed a partial-revetment-failure and wave-runup analysis
• Re-ran WHAFIS runs with better site-specific information
• Created a revised map and completed a PFD appeal package

Notable Accomplishments

Our assessment found potential items of appeal that would support a request to relocate the Flood Zone VE boundary. The appeal resulted in moving a portion of the primary frontal dune out of Flood Zone VE.

Note: At the time of this project, Geosyntec practitioners were contracted as ATM, which was acquired by Geosyntec.