Leaders from a number of municipalities in Miami-Dade are coming together to tackle issues threatening Biscayne Bay.
Over the years, there have been several fish kills and reports of plumes of potential chemicals leaking into the bay, mainly as the result of booming construction in South Florida.
On Tuesday, North Bay Village Mayor Brent Latham hosted the Coastal Mayors of Biscayne Bay breakfast meeting to discuss ideas and policies recently implemented to mitigate pollution in the bay.
“If we look out behind us, we can see something like 13 municipalities. So, we all influence the water quality because the water that is in the bay is coming from all of those places,” said Latham.
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Loren Parra, Miami Dade’s Chief Bay and Water Resources Officer, told NBC6 the health of the bay is “in decline.” She noted that resilience efforts have decreased over the last 5 to 10 years.
Parra said they are trying to turn that trend around by implementing new legislation like the Impervious Surfaces Ordinance which aims to filter rainwater through green spaces before it is released into the bay.
"The necessary storage, the necessary green space for us to take in increased rainfall, store it, clean it and make sure it’s in much better shape before it goes out to Biscayne Bay,” said Parra.
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Key Biscayne’s mayor was also in attendance, briefing others on the efforts of the village to mitigate pollution from entering Biscayne Bay.
Mayor Joe Rasco noted that the village is down to just two septic tanks, after converting 750 buildings to sewer.
With a more optimistic outlook on the health of Biscayne Bay’s, FIU Associate Professor Tom Frankovich said it is “improving.”
“We are very fortunate to have good exchange with the Atlantic Ocean,” said Frankovich. “We’re pretty resilient to a lot of the impacts that we throw on the system.”
The marine ecology professor also noted that recent fish kills haven’t been as large or severe. A sign that conditions may be improving. He added that more work is needed in the canals that feed into the bay.
