The city is a barrier island surrounded by Biscayne Bay, the Atlantic Ocean, and an interconnected system of waterways that provide habitat for fish and wildlife, opportunities for recreation, and an enhanced quality of life. Protecting the Biscayne Bay watershed and keeping our waters clean is critical to our local ecosystem, our residents, and our economy. As such, the city implements a multi-faceted strategy to keep pollution from entering our waterways, including regular water quality monitoring in the ocean and the bay. Among other potential contaminants, the water samples collected are analyzed for enteric bacteria, known as enterococci, that normally inhabit the intestinal track of humans and animals, and which may cause human disease, infections, or illness. The prevalence of enterococci is an indicator of fecal pollution, which may come from wildlife, pets, human sewage, and storm water run-off.

Florida Healthy Beaches Program

Since 2002, the Florida Department of Health (DOH) has regularly monitored beach water quality in all 30 of Florida’s coastal counties to ensure the safety of recreational beach-goers. The program, known as the Florida Healthy Beaches Program, consists of weekly marine beach water quality monitoring at 17 established sampling sites within Miami-Dade County including 1 Street, 21st Street, 53rd Street, 73 Street and 79 Street in Miami Beach. The sampling sites are selected based on the frequency and intensity of recreational water use and the proximity to pollution sources. More information on the Florida Healthy Beaches Program is available on the DOH website at http://www.floridahealth.gov/environmental-health/beach-water-quality/.

By state regulation, the DOH is required to issue a swimming advisory to inform the public in a specific area when samples of beach water collected do not meet the recreational water quality standard for enterococci (greater than 70 colony forming units of enterococci per 100ml for a single sample). Advisories are issued in the form of a press release when two consecutive samples collected at a beach exceed this Federal and State recommended standard. Water quality samples are tested daily until the all-clear is given. The DOH has issued five swimming advisories for the beaches in Miami Beach this calendar year, the most recent of which was issued on October 19.

While the DOH does not track the source of the elevated levels, staff is working with Miami-Dade County, DOH, and other environmental agencies to understand what other factors (changes in water chemistry, tidal fluctuations, temperature, wildlife or recreational inputs) may be causing these exceedances in the Atlantic Ocean. Staff will provide a verbal report on the outcome of these conversations at the meeting.

Biscayne Bay Water Quality Monitoring

The city operates a Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4), meaning the stormwater system is separate from the sanitary sewer system. The Miami Beach MS4 is comprised of over 90 miles of pipes that carry rainwater collected from inlets on city streets and discharges it via more than 300 outfalls into our waterways and Biscayne Bay. Stormwater systems are a tool used by cities around the world for managing the runoff from rainfall. The city’s stormwater system is designed to reduce the likelihood of flooding and keep streets dry. However, stormwater systems are also point sources pollution that carry contaminants picked up by rainwater.

The National Pollution Discharge Eliminiation System (NPDES) permit program addresses water pollution by regulating point sources that discharge pollutants to waters of the U.S. The City is one of more than 30 co-permittees with Miami-Dade County for NPDES Permit No. FLS000003, covering a combined total of more than 8,000 outfalls throughout Miami-Dade County. The city’s outfalls constitute only 3.8% of the total outfalls discharge into Biscayne Bay. As part of the NPDES permit requirements, the Miami-Dade County permit holders are required to monitor the water quality in Biscayne Bay and its tributaries for several pollutants, including fecal coliform.

All co-permittees pay Miami-Dade County to collect and analyze samples across an established sampling network and to produce an annual water quality sampling report. The report is submitted to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Environmental Protection Agency for review as part of an NPDES Annual Report. Per the results of the most recent report submitted in December 2016, the Southern North Bay region which receives the stormwater from Miami Beach was in compliance for fecal coliform. The next report will be submitted in December of this year. The last swimming advisory issued by the DOH in Biscayne Bay near Miami Beach was the result of a break in a submerged wastewater line during construction in late 2015.