Miami-Dade details $50M-plus Biscayne Bay grants, pilot stormwater fixes and roadmap for federal/state approval

Miami-Dade County staff told the Biscayne Bay Watershed Management Advisory Board on Oct. 3 that more than $50 million in state grant funding has supported restoration, septic-to-sewer conversion, pilot stormwater-treatment installations and habitat-restoration planning in Biscayne Bay.

Pamela (Durham staff) and consultant Mike Wessel of Environmental Science Associates (ESA) described a portfolio of projects funded by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection that includes septic-to-sewer conversions, technology pilots to reduce stormwater nutrient loads, living-shoreline guidance, sponge restoration pilot studies and a water-quality dashboard used to develop the county’s Reasonable Assurance Plan (RAP).

Why it matters: The county is pursuing a RAP so that DEP and EPA can approve a county-led alternative to a formal TMDL path. The RAP requires a pollutant-loading model, an agreed reference (healthy) period for the bay and an inventory of projects that together will demonstrate the county can meet numeric nutrient targets and restore designated uses.

Grant and project highlights - Funding: Pamela told the board that Miami-Dade has received more than $50 million in state funding over five years for Biscayne Bay restoration…