CITY OF PORT ST. JOE
Watershed Resilience Strategies
A watershed-based resilience framework that integrates hydrologic analysis, flood risk assessment, and nature-based infrastructure to reduce flood risk and strengthen the long-term resilience of Port St. Joe.
Effective flood resilience begins with understanding how water moves through the landscape. This watershed strategy builds upon hydrologic, environmental, and built environment assessments to identify opportunities for reducing flood risk while improving stormwater management, ecological systems, and community resilience. The project connects watershed-scale planning with targeted neighborhood interventions, demonstrating how nature-based solutions and resilient infrastructure can work together to create a more adaptive future for Port St. Joe.
To present this framework, the project is organized into three interconnected sections: first, Flood Risk & Built Environment Assessments, which establish the analytical foundation; second, Strategies to Reduce Risk & Improve Drainage, which outlines citywide resilience solutions; and finally, Neighborhood Specific Strategies, which define these recommendations into targeted interventions for key areas across Port St. Joe.
Flood Risk & Built Environment
Hydrologic Systems Assessment
Hydrologic Systems
Port St. Joe’s hydrologic system is shaped by a network of natural waterways, engineered drainage channels, wetlands, and St. Joseph Bay. These interconnected systems regulate stormwater movement throughout the city while also influencing flood risk, water quality, and ecosystem health.
The watershed is organized around two primary drainage basins—Avenue A Basin and Central Channel Basin—which collect and convey stormwater through different parts of the city before discharging into the Gulf County Canal and St. Joseph Bay. Understanding these flow patterns provides the foundation for identifying flood-prone areas and developing effective watershed resilience strategies.
Built Environment Assessment
Land Use
The built environment assessment found that Port St. Joe is primarily composed of single-family residential neighborhoods, with downtown serving as the city’s main commercial and civic center. It also identified the Central Channel as a defining feature of the urban landscape, while highlighting vacant land, open spaces, and key activity areas as opportunities for future development, stronger public spaces, and more resilient neighborhood growth.
Connectivity
The connectivity assessment shows that Port St. Joe is organized around several major transportation corridors and community destinations that connect neighborhoods throughout the city. It also identifies areas where pedestrian, bicycle, and street connections can be improved, creating opportunities to strengthen access between homes, schools, parks, downtown, and the waterfront while supporting safer, more connected, and resilient communities.
Flood Risk Assessment
FEMA 100-Year Flood Zone
The flood risk assessment identifies areas across Port St. Joe that are most vulnerable to flooding during a 100-year flood event. The analysis shows that the highest flood risks are concentrated along the coastline, St. Joseph Bay, and major drainage corridors, while inland areas generally experience lower flood depths. These findings help prioritize where flood mitigation, resilient infrastructure, and future adaptation efforts are most needed.
2070 Sea Level Rise
The sea level rise assessment indicates that while Florida’s statewide planning scenario assumes 3 feet of sea level rise, projected inundation depths across Port St. Joe are generally 0–2 feet due to local topography. The greatest impacts are concentrated along the shoreline and low-lying areas adjacent to St. Joseph Bay, identifying priority locations for long-term coastal adaptation and resilient development.
Strategies to Reduce & Improve Drainage
Nature Based Flood Mitigation Strategies
The proposed nature-based strategies significantly increase stormwater retention across Port St. Joe while reducing runoff and flood risk. The combined interventions also improve water quality, restore native ecosystems and habitats, reduce erosion, and enhance the function and quality of public open spaces.
City-Wide Nature-Based Solutions
The citywide nature-based strategy addresses two major flood hazards—the projected 2070 sea level rise scenario and the FEMA 100-year flood event—across three priority watershed areas. Together, the proposed interventions improve drainage, reduce stormwater flooding and coastal erosion, and strengthen the long-term resilience of Port St. Joe’s natural and built environments.
Building Flood Mitigation Strategies
The building flood mitigation framework organizes resilience strategies into 2 categories—individual measures and community measures—to reduce flood impacts at multiple scales. Together, the strategies protect 3 critical building components: structural systems, essential utilities, and flood-resistant materials, improving the long-term resilience and performance of buildings throughout Port St. Joe.
City-Wide Buildings Adaptation
The citywide building adaptation strategy identifies 3 priority housing areas where flood resilience measures are most needed: North Chicken House Creek, South Chicken House Creek, and St. Joseph Bay. Based on local flood conditions, the strategy recommends targeted building adaptations—including elevating structures and utilities, relocation where necessary, and flood-resistant construction—with buildings in FEMA flood zones elevated at least 1 foot above the Base Flood Elevation (BFE) to reduce future flood damage.
Neighborhood Specific Strategies
The Overall Watershed Strategy
The overall watershed strategy integrates flood mitigation, landscape enhancement, and urban connectivity into a single resilience framework for Port St. Joe. The proposed network of bioswales, marsh restoration, shoreline stabilization, and open spaces increases stormwater retention, strengthens ecological systems, and improves the quality and function of public spaces throughout the city.
Beyond flood mitigation, the strategy improves pedestrian and bicycle connectivity while organizing housing adaptation into 3 flood resilience zones based on flood elevation and construction type. It also identifies new development opportunities in lower-risk, well-connected areas, supporting long-term community growth while reducing future flood vulnerability.
Battles Street
The Battles Street strategy significantly increases stormwater retention by restoring wetlands and creating a connected green infrastructure network across North Port St. Joe. The plan also improves neighborhood accessibility through new pedestrian and bicycle connections while identifying 3 priority areas for future housing development in locations with lower flood risk and better access to public infrastructure.
Forest Park
The Forest Park strategy transforms the Central Channel into a higher-capacity stormwater corridor that improves drainage and reduces flood risks for surrounding neighborhoods. The plan also strengthens east–west connectivity, enhances public open spaces, and identifies 1 priority area for future residential development in a location with strong access to schools, services, and transportation.
St. Joseph Bay
The St. Joseph Bay strategy strengthens coastal resilience by reducing the impacts of tidal flooding, storm surge, and sea level rise along the city’s waterfront. The plan improves shoreline protection, expands public access to the bay through recreational amenities, and increases the resilience of waterfront buildings through targeted housing adaptations in one of Port St. Joe’s highest-risk coastal areas.
Project Outcomes & Report
Port St. Joe: Watershed Development Strategies
