Biscayne Bay Summit News - January 2021 1 message
Biscayne Bay Marine Health Coalition
JANUARY 2021
Stormwater Management: Keeping Trash, Pollution and Nutrients out of Biscayne Bay
Please join the Biscayne Bay Marine Health Coalition for this interactive zoom workshop to learn about the different ways local Public Works Departments are working to keep pollutants, trash and nutrients, out of Biscayne Bay. This is the irst of our 2021 Workshops Series.
Date: Feb 19, 2021 09:00 AM in Eastern Time
Presentations & roundtable discussions by: University of Florida Department of Engineering; City of Aventura Public Works & Transportation Department; City of Miami Resilience and Public Works; Miami-Dade County Department of Environmental Resource Management (DERM)
Moderated by:Emilio Lopez & Dave Doebler, Members of the Biscayne Bay Marine Health Coalition Steering Committee
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Miami-Dade County Hires a Chief Bay Of icer: Irela Bagué – our Water Princess! Join us in celebrating the appointment of Irela Bagué as Miami-Dade County's new Chief Bay Of icer. Our new mayor, Daniela Levine-Cava, has made an inspired appointment of an inspired leader. Irela has been working closely with our grassroots coalition which has been calling for sustainable, long-term restoration of the health of Biscayne Bay for the past six years. Not only was she critical to the two community summits we held at FIU, but she served admirably as Chair of our Biscayne Bay Task Force, one of priority recommendations of our coalition.
Under Irela's leadership, the Task Force conducted a comprehensive study of the bay and the factors contributing to its decline. Despite ...
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Dade Heritage Trust Unveils Permanent Museum Exhibit, Biscayne Bay: Our Water, Our World!
Dade Heritage Trust (DHT) recently unveiled a new permanent museum exhibit, “Biscayne Bay: Our Water, Our World,” at the non-pro it’s headquarters located at 190 SE 12 Terr. in the Brickell neighborhood.
“The exhibit is incredibly timely. With all of the well- publicized issues facing the bay’s severe decline, the need for public education and engagement is crucial to the bay’s future ....
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Miami Beach Commission Approves Eco- Friendly Fertilizer Ordinance
Miami Beach, FL – Responding to the recent ish kills and algal blooms in Biscayne Bay, Miami Beach Commissioners voted unanimously today to adopt a strong fertilizer restriction ordinance that limits the use of fertilizers for ive months of the year and prohibits them entirely along city waterways and stormwater drains.
“The nutrients commonly found in fertilizers have been identi ied as one of the causes of the devastating ish kills that occurred in the northern Biscayne Bay basin over the summer and fall of 2020,” Commissioner Michael Góngora who sponsored the ordinance said.
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After Fish Kill, Miami-Dade has a New Biscayne Advocate: a ‘Chief Bay Of icer’ Irela Bagué, who headed a task force that laid out steps needed to restore the health of Biscayne Bay, will serve as Miami-Dade’s irst “chief bay of icer” under Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. Levine Cava announced the appointment Friday night. The position was created under the administration of Mayor Carlos Gimenez, after ish kills in the northern bay sparked broader alarm about pollution issues environmentalists have been warning about for years.
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Citizen Science Effort to Monitor Water Quality Flowing from Little River and Biscayne Canals into Biscayne Bay
Current monitoring of the waters feeding Biscayne Bay are insuf icient. There are 20+ basins that low into the bay which are being monitored monthly for nitrogen and phosphorus which cause persistent algal blooms. Two basins effecting seagrass loss will be targeted in this project, Little River and the Biscayne Canal. The goal is to expand the sensing network in an effort to help drive research, local decision making, and community action. All data will become open source.
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Evolution of Environmental Activism
Biscayne Bay has been been on the minds of many ever since the unfortunate marine kill off and toxic algae bloom that occurred this past summer of 2020 from a combination of human caused factors lashing warning signs that this precious natural source of Miami life and beauty is on the cusp of reaching the point of no return just like the greater risk of the anthropogenic climate disruption. For years our local governments have known of this growing environmental risk and potential adverse economic effect it may cause.
The environmental community led by activists, scientists, academics, and everyday residents having careers, families and other non-related ...
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Biscayne Bay Is Busy and Polluted. So Why Are There More Saw ish?
Biscayne Bay has had its share of woes in recent years: a ish kill this summer, acres of dead seagrass and persistent algae blooms fed by increasing pollution.
But saw ish, a prehistoric-looking ray with a snout shaped like a chainsaw, don’t seem to mind.
A new study by the University of Miami and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has found sightings of the disappearing ish increasing in Biscayne Bay. The study, published this month in the online ....
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FIU Will Employ High-Tech Computer Modeling To Track Biscayne Bay’s Pollution Problems
It’s no mystery what has triggered the algae blooms, ish kills and sea grass die-offs that have troubled Biscayne Bay over the last few years. It’s pollution.
But what pollution, how much and where is it coming from? Those are murky questions that may soon be cleared up with the help of a super high- tech computer modeling system run by Florida International University.
The modeling technology, which can generate ...
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Kayaker Cleans Up Nearly a Ton of Garbage From Biscayne Bay
Marathon runner Andrew Otazo spent his Christmas break wrangling garbage.
On December 23, the 33-year-old athlete and environmentalist rowed his kayak back and forth from a small, unnamed island in Biscayne Bay to the mainland, lugging huge black bags. The sacks weren't full of gifts — they were illed with hundreds of pounds of plastic and other debris that had washed up on the island off of Crandon Park Marina.
It wasn't the irst time Otazo has targeted the ...
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NOAA's 2015-2020 Biscayne Bay Habitat Focus Area Implementation Plan
In 2015 the Biscayne Bay Habitat Focus Area was designated. It included Biscayne Bay and its adjacent reef tract, including all of Biscayne National Park, the Florida DEP Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserves, and the northern extension of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary beyond the US Highway 1 bridge at Manatee Bay.
The designation created a nucleus of NOAA resources to attract partners from state and local governmental agencies and nongovernmental entities into productive partnerships to ight ...
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Oceana Applauds the City of Palm Beach Gardens for Passing Ordinance to Reduce Single-Use Plastics
On January 14th, the city of Palm Beach Gardens passed a resolution to prohibit single-use polystyrene cups and foodware on city property, direct city staff to negotiate "no polystyrene" provisions into vendor contracts, and encourage residents and businesses to reduce or eliminate polystyrene.
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Democratic Sen. Linda Stewart and Rep. Mike Grieco PushBills to Allow Local Governments to Ban Single-Use Plastics
Sen. Linda Stewart and Rep. Mike Grieco, both Democrats, are angling to repeal a state preemption of local rules governing single-use plastic products.
That state-level preemption currently blocks local governments from banning single-use plastics. The law states that “no local government, local governmental agency, or state government ...
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Tips to Keep Our Bay Clean A BBMHS Citizen's Action Guide - Part I
The health of Biscayne Bay, our ecological gem, depends on a harmonious and mutually bene icial relationship between it and the people who live and visit here. Biscayne Bay care starts with you and goes everywhere you do. Whether this is at home, on land, or in the water, every action you take can hurt or help Biscayne Bay.
Garbage and impaired water quality kills. When trash is discarded in an irresponsible manner, ... CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE
The Biscayne Bay Summit News is a monthly newsletter promoting post-Summit news, including restoration and preservation initiatives being planned or initiated by key Biscayne Bay Stakeholders. Interested in collaborating with our Newsletter? We hope so! This is a collaborative project in which you are the editor! Click on the link below for the Online Submission Form
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Biscayne Bay Marine Health Summit Coalition The purpose of the Biscayne Bay Marine Health Coalition is to establish collaboration amongst diverse stakeholders in order to create an effective Action Plan for reducing pollutants in Biscayne Bay as well as Miami- Dade's canals and rivers.
Founder & Project Coordinator: Luiz Rodrigues Steering Committee Members: Emilio Lopez (Chair), Albert Gomez, Camila Quaresma-Sharp, Dave Doebler, Irela Bagué, Patrick Shearer, Scott Strippling and Steve Sauls.
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