COO Jimmy Bailey notes that “Lucas is perhaps the first
resilience specialist hired by a community association
in the entire country.” Lucas’ title refers specifically
to water resilience, the primary goal of KICA’s water
management strategy. With his specialized experience,
he has a diverse toolbox to tackle this challenge.
In the fall of 2019, KICA anticipates releasing a plan
which will focus on actions that can be accomplished in
the next five years to deal with various storm scenarios.
This plan will include recommendations (pretested by
Lucas’ modeling) by the Infrastructure Task Force, and
funding plans for the potential new infrastructure.
Lucas has master’s degrees in Environmental Studies
and Public Administration, and is heavily involved in
the Charleston area flood mitigation conversation. He
is a member of the Charleston Resilience Network and
worked with TOKI to create simulations in for their sea
level rise research. When KICA initiated the Finance
Committee Infrastructure Task Force earlier this spring,
Lucas came into focus as an essential piece of KICA’s
strategic water management planning. He’s asking the
same questions KICA has been in recent years: “how
do we respond to flooding or to a natural disaster? How
do we get people thinking about it in a different way?”
Lucas uses Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
software to answer these tough questions, simulating
how surface water moves on the island in detail down
to the square meter. It includes details like elevation and
soil types to account for how these characteristics affect
water movement. When a water event, like a storm
surge or rapid downpour, is simulated, the model shows
how water levels will be impacted across the island and
can pinpoint areas where drainage infrastructure could
be overloaded.
“When we first met Lucas, we had him simulate the
storm surge from Tropical Storm Irma, where we knew
the outcome and we could test his model. His model
showed effects that were remarkably similar to our
experience during the storm,” remarked Bailey.
There are almost endless ways this type of information
can be used to better prepare Kiawah for the future.
The first task Lucas will tackle is embedding about
ten potential infrastructure projects within his Kiawah
model to test how they would impact water flow
and evaluate if the designs are successful or should
be altered. The potential projects would affect areas
of concern identified by the Finance Committee’s
Infrastructure Task Force. By modeling the data in
advance, KICA can be a better steward of its resources
by implementing solutions that are likely to improve our
water management abilities. It can also help us discard
sub-optimal solutions before a costly implementation.
KICA Resilience Specialist, Lucas Hernandez
Lucas will spend a portion of his time on education and
outreach. In a community as close as Kiawah, “any time
someone changes the flow of surface water, by raising
the property elevation for example, that water has to
go somewhere else. This can cause issues for neighbors
or cause infrastructure to overload. Being thoughtful
with how we approach this and considerate of others is
crucial for a community like Kiawah.”
Lucas talks a lot about bridges, but not the sort you
might expect from a person so heavily involved in
infrastructure. Again and again, he goes back to
bridging the gaps within KICA’s departments and
island entities to ensure the island faces its challenges in
the best possible way. “Resilience to me is about bounce
back,” he says. “What ways can we be proactive? How
can this information help everyone? I think the answers
are in KICA already but how can we flesh those out?”
While Lucas’ work is just getting started, it is part of
a larger strategy for water management that KICA
has been working on for some time. He shares KICA’s
perspective on the challenges that face this special place.
“Kiawah is a premier community — we want to keep the
island ahead of the game. By being flood ready, it shows
that we’re pushing toward becoming a community
that can respond quickly and can potentially become a
model for other coastal communities.”
KIAWAH ISLAND DIGEST | 3