The City of Delray Beach Thomas Street Pump Station is a vital lifeline for neighborhoods within the 50-acre drainage basin along the Delray Beach barrier island. Originally constructed in 1976, the pump station reached the end of its useful life and no longer provides adequate flood protection to address King Tides, severe storms, and projected Sea Level Rise (SLR). This coastal flooding and SLR resiliency project is a component of the City’s 2019 Stormwater Master Plan, the 2018 Intracoastal Waterway Water Level and Infrastructure Vulnerability Study, and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) Statewide Flooding and SLR Resilience Plan.

The City was awarded $2.5M through the FDEP Resilient Florida Grant Program (Grant Agreement No. 22FRP134) and more than $1.8M through the Water and Springs Restoration Program (Grant Agreement No. LPA0277), totaling over $4.2M in supplemental funding. WGI provided technical assistance and documentation to support state grant reporting requirements. WGI was selected to provide environmental services during the planning phase, including a benthic resource assessment for stormwater discharges to the Intracoastal Waterway. Services included pre-application field reviews with regulatory agencies to verify the presence and limits of corals and submerged aquatic vegetation, early coordination to avoid seasonal survey constraints, and scheduling in-water surveys around pump station operations. WGI’s SCUBA-certified divers supported these efforts. The City later awarded WGI an additional contract for survey, environmental, and permitting services during project design.

Project improvements include replacing the existing 18,000-gpm pump station with a new 85,000-gpm facility featuring a 400-kW backup generator, on-site fueling, elevated seawall cap, underground utilities, and an upgraded drainage network with water quality and quantity enhancements. WGI obtained the SFWMD Individual Construction and Operation Permit and the USACE Section 10 Permit. This project will provide critical flood mitigation and resiliency, making the Thomas Street Pump Station the largest in Delray Beach.