Overview of New Infrastructure
Project 1
Status: Complete
Project One is in the area of the Kiawah Island Parkway and Sea Marsh Drive near the west end of the island. Before improvements, Sea Marsh Drive flooded in this location. Water from the road is designed to shed into Pond 21, but the water level in this pond stayed too high due to insufficient capacity to drain, so there was no place for water to be displaced. The solution was to add another pipe from Pond 21 to its neighboring pond, to increase its capacity to flow through the pond system and out through the drainage system. This improvement significantly reduces rainfall flooding on Sea Marsh Drive.
Project 2
Status: Complete
Project Two is in the area of the Kiawah Island Parkway and Sea Forest Drive near Fire Station #4. Before improvements, the Kiawah Island Parkway flooded in this location with 12 inches of water (the height of some car tailpipes) at least once annually, which could prevent access to most of the island. There is no possible detour in this area, so it is critical to maintain access here. Overall drainage capacity issues also contributed to significant flooding (up to 26 inches) on Sea Forest Drive and many side streets.
The solution included adding a new water outfall to the marsh at an existing inlet and raising an existing berm at that inlet to prevent tidal water from coming in and flooding the parkway. Previously, one outfall at Inlet Cove drained all of the ponds on the west end of the island up to the V-gate – 37 ponds and over three miles of drainage. The new outfall now drains The Settlement neighborhood on the north side of the parkway, relieving the Inlet Cove outfall from draining this one-mile section. The additional outfall helps keep the Kiawah Island Parkway clear, and alleviates hazardous flooding in The Settlement neighborhood and throughout West and East Beach areas. This project had the greatest impact of all of the flood mitigation projects, so it was accomplished first.
Project 3
Status: Complete
Project Three is in the area of the Kiawah Island Parkway and Green Dolphin Way. At this location, the Kiawah Island Parkway’s elevation dipped, creating a bowl that held flood water. There is also no possible detour around this part of the road, so it is critical that the road remains open to traffic. The solution involved raising 450 feet of the parkway to eliminate the bowl.
Project 4
Status: Complete
Project Four is in the area of the Vanderhorst Gate (V-gate). There is no possible detour in this area, so it is a priority to maintain traffic flow. This location is low, so water can pool with heavy rainfall. Additionally, water from a nearby pond would push up onto the road through curb drainage, compounding the problem. The solution included purchasing a portable pump to remove water from the intersection and adding a tide flex valve to the pipe from the nearby pond, so that water cannot be pushed up. These solutions keep the intersection passable for vehicles.
Project 5
Status: Complete
Project Five is in the area of Governors Drive, where the Indigo Park neighborhood backs up to the road, and across from the Turtle Point maintenance facility. A tidal inlet at the end of Halona Lane caused occasional flooding on Governors Drive. A weir, a low barrier to reduce the infiltration of minor tides, was added to the inlet and tide flex valves were added to pipes to reduce flooding. A new dry detention area next to Governors Drive can collect excess rainwater. If needed, the portable pump purchased for the V-gate can also be connected to this section of Governors Drive to relieve road flooding, as there is no detour in this area.
Project 6
Status: Inlet Dredging Complete, Pipe Reconfiguration Planned for Summer 2023
Project Six is in the area of Governors Drive, between the Vanderhorst Mansion (across from Flyway Drive) and Persimmon Court. Blocked pipes and an inefficient drainage configuration cause flooding on Governors Drive. The first step was dredging the existing inlet to remove several decades of sediment for an efficient path for water to exit into the Kiawah River. The rest of the solution will include adding pipes, reconfiguring pipes, adding tide flex valves to pipes to prevent tidal water from entering the drainage system, and raising the level of pipes so that water efficiently drains from the road and area ponds into the inlet.
Project Timeline
The membership voted to approve funding for these infrastructure improvement projects with a special assessment in May 2020. The association began work on the first project (Project 2) in June 2020 and all projects are anticipated to be complete by the end of 2023. In just three years, KICA could accomplish drainage optimization, the essential foundation for barrier island water management.
Water Management Task Force
Dave Morley: Task Force Chair, (former) KICA Board Chair & Treasurer, former Finance Committee member, Community Member
In 2018, before joining the KICA board in 2019, Dave was a member of the Finance Committee. KICA staff had presented an infrastructure improvement project to the Finance Committee in a draft of the 2019 Budget, which spurred the committee to grapple with the question of funding such a project, since KICA does not have a funding source for new infrastructure. The committee and staff also discussed the potential for several other new infrastructure projects where known flood susceptibilities exist. It was determined these new infrastructure projects should be presented to the board in a comprehensive plan, so Dave was asked to lead a new Water Management Task Force.
Rajan Govindan: Finance Committee Member, Former Board Member, Community Member
Chris Widuch: Town of Kiawah Island Mayor Pro-Tem, Community Member
Barry Abrams: Engineer, Lawyer, Community Member
Justin Tye, PE: Stantec Consulting
Justin is a traffic engineer with project emphasis in site development, stormwater modeling and utility coordination.
Jimmy Bailey: (former) KICA Chief Operating Officer
Shannon White: KICA Director of Operations (now KICA Chief Operating Officer)
Will Connor, PE: KICA Director of Major Repairs, Town Sea Level Rise Committee Member
Will is a civil engineer and oversees all repairs and replacements to island infrastructure, including drainage, roads, bridges, leisure trails and boardwalks.
Lucas Hernandez: (former) KICA Resilience Specialist
Lucas executes all research and planning for association resilience projects, with a primary focus on water resilience. Lucas developed a digital hydrologic model of Kiawah Island, that demonstrates how water moves throughout the island, considering precise topographic details down to 2.5 square feet, like elevation, soil type, ground cover and water levels. The model was created with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and SC Department of Natural Resources (DNR) data, and also incorporates flood reports from community members.