Committee approves contract amendments to accelerate Miami-Dade ocean outfall compliance and reuse work

The Infrastructure Innovation and Technology Committee unanimously approved a resolution authorizing amendments to three nonexclusive professional services agreements for the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department tied to the county’s ocean outfall compliance program.

The resolution authorizes: (1) Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc. (agreement quoted in the item as number 14CH2M6) to receive an added award of $47,000,000 and an extension of four years to its contract term; (2) CDM Smith Inc. (agreement cited as 17CDMSI1) to receive an additional $5,000,000; and (3) Brown and Caldwell (listed in the transcript as "Bridal and Caldwell corporation," agreement 17BRCA5) to receive an additional $5,000,000. The mayor was authorized to execute the amendments and exercise contract provisions as needed. The committee voted in favor without recorded opposition.

Roy Coley, the county’s Chief Utilities and Regulatory Services Officer, presented a status update on the multi-decade compliance program created to reduce treated wastewater discharges to ocean outfalls, cut nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) loads, and meet a reuse target equal to 60% of the county’s base flow at the time the law passed. Coley said the county has achieved phosphorus compliance, is about 80% of the way to its nitrogen target, and is roughly 34% complete on ocean outfall work overall. He told the committee the county’s 2023 additions to its reuse plan — including large-scale industrial reuse partnerships and energy-recovery integration — are expected to put more than 100 million gallons per day of reuse into construction by 2026.

Coley explained that the county revised its approach after earlier planning work that included building a new West District treatment plant was halted in 2019. Since 2021 the county has accelerated its capital investment in the program and, Coley said, ‘‘we intend for all of that to be fully under construction in 2026.’’ The committee’s discussion praised the administration’s progress, and members noted the county’s need to demonstrate compliance when pursuing state and federal funding.

The contract amendments were justified in the administration’s presentation as necessary to retain engineering firms already familiar with program history and technical design; the vendors were present at the meeting and available to answer technical questions. The resolution authorizes the mayor’s office to execute the amended agreements and is intended to keep program work on an accelerated schedule.

Key figures and program status mentioned during the presentation included a county reuse target of 60% (roughly just over 100,000,000 gallons per day of base-flow reuse at the time the law passed), a reported 34% program completion on ocean outfall work, and a noted nutrient load figure discussed by committee leadership of approximately 63,000,000 pounds of nitrogen and phosphorus entering county waters (figure cited during committee remarks). The transcript records the motion passing with unanimous support; the committee had five members present at votes recorded later in the session.

The action sends contract amendments to the mayor for execution and continues an accelerated capital program to meet state reuse and nutrient-reduction requirements and keep the county eligible for external infrastructure funding.