Marineland Acres is a residential subdivision that was developed prior to modern design and permitting requirements and consists primarily of dirt roads completely lacking a drainage system.
The area is located in a sump, being situated between a ridge line to the West (on which A1A lies) and the ocean dune line to the East. The sandy beach soils are sufficient to absorb several inches of rainfall, and since 90 percent of all storms in Florida are less than 1”, the sump condition is not a problem for the vast majority of storms. However, larger storms produce extensive surface ponding that inundates the roads and yards. This ponding lingers for several days since evaporation and infiltration are the only recovery mechanisms, impedes roadway access, causes sanitary impacts (primarily lack of flushing ability) by surcharging the septic drain fields. Large ocean surge events which breach the dunes, such as recent hurricanes Matthew and Irma, result in extensive surface ponding of saltwater, which without an outfall lingers long enough to cause severe vegetative damage to the landscape.
To alleviate these issues, Flagler County partnered with ETM in 2011 to develop and implement a comprehensive three-phase solution, which was permitted in 2015. ETM developed an innovative three-phase design approach that redirected drainage and reduced costs by $2 Million, while also greatly reducing the environmental impacts.