BIOPHILIC CITIES JOURNAL / PIONEER INTERVIEW Biscayne Bay Photo Credit Miami-Dade County

Bagué that led to her new job, tells me there are some 100,000 flooding serves as a conduit for documented downward trends septic systems in the county, with sending pollutants to the bay as Saving Biscayne Bay for the environmental health of an estimated 18,000 failing. This fertilizer and other contaminants Interview with Miami-Dade’s New Chief Bay Officer, Irela Bagué the bay. Especially difficult is the is a waste disposal technology from lawns and farms are challenge of water quality and especially ill-suited to South collected and flow into the Bay. By Tim Beatley controlling the extensive water Florida’s highly permeable karst pollutants entering the bay. This geology. And sea level rise will One key result of this excessive Irela Bagué knows the ecology and even a run as a state vibrant growing metro area of was highlighted in dramatic only exacerbate these problems flow of nutrients has been the of South Florida well. The government representative. more than 6 million residents. fashion in August of 2020 when as water tables rise and causing sharp decline in sea grasses, daughter of Cuban immigrants Her new and challenging job is It is an expansive body of a major fish kill occurred in the further septic tanks to fail. which in the southern portions she remembers especially a 7th- the Chief Bay Officer (CBO) for water, stretching from Broward bay. The fish kill may have been of the bay have declined by grade field trip to the Everglades, Miami-Dade County. The “bay” County to the Florida Keys, a blessing in disguise, as it has A big need she says is to invest more than 90 percent. Seagrass an experience that set in motion here refers to the Biscayne encompassing 428 square miles. helped to raise awareness and in upgrading the region’s failing meadows are an important her interest in environmental Bay, Miami’s iconic water body, led to many entities now ready to infrastructure, its stormwater and habitat for many of the aquatic land use and a career path an estuarine ecosystem of The bay has been struggling help in tackling these problems. wastewater collection systems, organisms found in the bay, that has taken her to the South immense biodiversity, and a in recent years, however. An which are literally “bursting at from manatees to loggerhead Florida Water Management backdrop of visual beauty and 18-month study by the Biscayne Excessive nutrients enter the bay the seams.” A regional canal sea turtles, and damselfishes to District, the Audubon Society, a recreational playground for a Bay Task Force, a body chaired by in several different ways. Bagué system intended to reduce dolphins.

48 BIOPHILIC CITIES JOURNAL VOL. 4 NO. 1 | APRIL 2021 | 49 help us pay for them.” emblematic of the immense municipal revenue raising we wealth with hotel rooms and need. Resources: Bagué remains optimistic, and residences that start at $1 points to other cities (such as million. A recent report by Changing the political balance Biscayne Bay Task Force (June Miami Climate Alliance. https:// Tampa) that have been able to Richard Florida and Steven of power and giving a voice to 2020). A Unified Approach miamiclimatealliance.org. change direction and restore Pedigo, Toward a More Inclusive less affluent and communities to Recovery for a Healthy & their nearshore habitats and Region, makes the point that of color, something that Resilient Biscayne Bay: Biscayne Andres Viglucci (April 24, 2019). water quality. It can be done, she many of the workers on which organizations like the Cleo Bay Task Force Report and Miami-Dade’s tale of two cities: believes. What is really needed, the region depends to sustain Institute and the Miami Climate Recommendations. https:// 30 billionaires and the economic in the words of the Task Force, its lucrative tourism and Alliance (two organizations environment.fiu.edu/research/ inequality of Colombia. Miami is “a unified and collaborative development markets earn Bagué recommends for their biscayne-bay-health/_assets/ Herald. https://www.miamiherald. approach to watershed dismally low wage levels, and work) are attempting to do. bague-et-al.---biscayne- com/news/local/community/ restoration.” have limited ability to pay for Resting some of that wealth bay-task-force-report-and- miami-dade/article229441144. housing and the others basics of away from the city’s billionaire- recommendations.pdf. html. I asked Bagué about the prospect life. class and using it to help protect Irela Bagué, Miami-Dade County of nature-based approaches, and restore the bay would seem Cleo Institute. https:// Chief Bay Officer some of which, are recommended For Bagué it is a difficult sensible and equitable. Bagué cleoinstitute.org. in the Task Force Report, dilemma: “We want people to notes that the mayor has now Bagué’s Task Force Report such as living shorelines and come and we want to continue created a new Chief Equity and Richard Florida and Steven has called for setting and mangrove forests. She is not to grow but how do we do it in Inclusion Officer (a job parallel to Pedigo (2019). Toward A More implementing reduction goals sure living shorelines may even a way that is fair for everyone.” her own), whose job it is to begin Inclusive Region: Inequality and and interim targets, and for local be allowed under the current Affordable housing and climate to tackle this. Poverty in Greater Miami. Miami ordinances that would mandate codes, something she is working gentrification (the ongoing Urban Future Initiative. https:// best management practices on now. Much of the land along displacement of lower income digitalcommons.fiu.edu/mufi- leading (hopefully) to “deep the bay’s shoreline is privately residents in parts of the city that reports/7. reductions in pollutants.” New owned and expensive real estate. include higher elevation and pilot programs are also called “Not everyone wants to grow this more attractive ground), are for as well as a new county- mangroves and lose their view. two interconnected and difficult Biscayne Bay wide ordinance to control So, there is a balance we have to issues moving forward. Photo Credit Miami-Dade County fertilizer runoff. Marine sources make,” she tells me. of pollutants are also addressed It is ironic that it is Biscayne in the report, with a call for Views of the bay carry an Bay, and views of the bay, that increased inspections of marinas economic premium, to be sure, ultimately generates and sustains and new marina-based pollutant and raise another vexing issue so much of the economic value containment structures. in Miami -- social equity. Luxury driving the city. Surely the bay highrise housing along the itself, and the diverse and unique In South Florida, water shores of the bay has become marine life that depend on this management is about as a symbol of the city’s extreme ecosystem, deserve to reap some complex as it can get. Bagué’s wealth, and in recent years the of the wealth it creates, in the key challenge is to coordinate region has witnessed a growing form of conservation, repair with local governments (there gulf in inequality between the and restoration. Equally true, are 34 cities in Dade County), as rich and poor. One recent report the economic benefits that flow well as multiple state and federal estimates the wealth gap in directly from Miami-Dade’s Bay agencies with some stake in the Miami is second-only to New York conservation efforts should help bay. They each have an agenda City among US cities. Miami is to ameliorate the poverty and but also can help solve the home to some 30 billionaires but the income and wealth disparity problems. “They all have to be at also to pockets of severe poverty. that exist. This is a tall order for the table,” she says, “agreeing not an urban estuary, perhaps, and Plan Map Porttion from Development Strategy Kazanka just to move these restoration The new Waldorf Astoria tower requires new creative thinking projects forward … but also to in downtown Miami may be about the mechanisms of

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