LTC 445-2018 Quality of Stormwater DischargesCity of Miami Beach, 1700 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, Florida 33139,
www.miamibeachfl.gov
Jimmy L. Morales, City Manager
Tel: 305-673-7010 , Fax: 305-673-7782
NO. LTC # 445-2018 LETTER TO COMMISSION
TO: Mayor Dan Gelber and Members of the City Commission
FROM: Jimmy L. Morales, City Manager 4zt�L
DATE: August 10, 2018
SUBJECT: Quality of Stormwater Discharges
A political advertisement was disseminated with exaggerated claims regarding the city's
stormwater system, indicating that "millions of gallons of human waste" pour into Biscayne Bay
every year from the pumps. The purpose of this Letter to Commission is to provide you with
accurate information regarding our stormwater discharges so you can respond to any inquiries,
as well as to assure our residents and the community at large that we are committed to
protecting the regional gem that is Biscayne Bay.
The City of Miami Beach does not have sanitary sewer outfalls to Biscayne Bay. Sewage from
our community is transported by our sanitary sewer system to the Virginia Key Wastewater
Treatment plant for treatment. The City continuously evaluates the condition of our sanitary
sewer system to conduct proactive maintenance and reduce the potential for any sanitary sewer
discharges.
Like other cities throughout the United States, including more than 30 municipalities in Miami -
Dade County, the City is permitted to operate a Municipal Separate Storm Sewer system to
drain our city during rain events through outfalls into Biscayne Bay. There are a total of more
than 8,000 outfalls throughout Miami -Dade County that discharge into Biscayne Bay, of which
Miami Beach constitutes only 3.8%. As part of our permit to operate our stormwater system, all
permit holders are required to develop a stormwater management program that reduces
potential pollution through education and outreach, good housekeeping, as well as the use of
cutting edge technology and industry -vetted operational practices. The City has established a
program that meets and, where feasible, exceed the requirements of our permit. One example
is the launch of our water quality sampling program in late 2016, which expands upon Miami -
Dade County's existing sampling network.
The Miami Beach water quality sampling program added more than sixty stations to cover areas
of Biscayne Bay closer to our shoreline and within our waterways for which data has historically
not been collected. The data from this program gives a more robust snapshot of local water
quality and allows City staff to make better informed stormwater management decisions. Earlier
this year we completed the first year of data collection and retained an outside water quality
expert to review the data and draw initial conclusions about the health of our waterways. The
data collected in the first year will serve as a baseline or control to which we can compare the
data collected in future years.
Quality of Stormwater Discharges
August 10, 2018
Page 2 of 2
The outside expert is currently completing his statistical analyses and developing a report with
the results, his observations and his recommendations. He will be presenting the report before
the Sustainability and Resiliency Committee at their September 26 meeting and immediately
following at a technical roundtable with community stakeholders. Based on his preliminary
observations, the results appear typical to stormwater discharges from urban areas and there is
no cause for alarm. Furthermore, the samples taken to date do not show a significant difference
between the samples taken near the gravity outfalls the city has operated for over 100 years
and the samples taken near the pumped outfalls. Therefore, there is no evidence that the City's
activities, including the installation of the pumps, have had a measurable change in the bay.
Stormwater by its very nature carries pollutants. Therefore, the City is constantly evaluating its
stormwater management program and making improvements that further improve the quality of
our stormwater discharges. As we gather more data and refine our new sampling program, it will
allow us to fine-tune our current efforts.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to Elizabeth Wheaton,
Environment and Sustainability Director, or to me.
SMT/ESW/MKW