{"id":408204,"date":"2026-09-23T12:54:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T12:54:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/408204\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T12:54:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T12:54:08","slug":"biscayne-bay-still-plagued-by-pollution-despite-millions-in-funding-miami","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/408204\/","title":{"rendered":"Biscayne Bay still plagued by pollution despite millions in funding | Miami"},"content":{"rendered":"

Troubled waters remain across much of Biscayne Bay, with a wide range of “fair” to “poor” conditions still threatening the region’s “Blue Heart,” as Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava calls South Florida’s economic engine, and with the rainy-season fertilizer ban<\/a> set to expire Oct. 31, county officials say the window to curb runoff is closing fast.<\/p>\n

The fertilizer restriction, which prohibits nitrogen and phosphorus lawn treatments from May 15 through Oct. 31 to limit rainy-season runoff into the bay, ends in a matter of weeks, a deadline environmental officials are using to renew calls for residents to keep up the habit even after the ban lifts.<\/p>\n

The 2026 Biscayne Bay Report Card<\/a>, produced for the eighth year by Miami-Dade County’s Department of Environmental Resources Management (DERM), shows that many areas, particularly parts of northern Biscayne Bay, continue to “show high levels of nutrient and bacteria pollution that exceed established criteria.”<\/p>\n

That demonstrates an “urgent need for stronger, sustained action,” the report notes.<\/p>\n

“This year\u2019s findings show that while targeted restoration efforts are making a difference in some areas, Biscayne Bay continues to face serious threats from pollution and nutrient runoff,” Levine Cava said. “Protecting our Bay requires action from all of us, and one simple, but impactful, step residents can take is avoiding fertilizer use during the rainy season, which lasts through Oct. 31. Together, we can help preserve Biscayne Bay for future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to a Miami-Dade County release, Biscayne Bay remains “vulnerable and under stress due to continuous pollution<\/a>.” In the report card, all regions remain in overall “poor” and “fair” condition.<\/p>\n

There have been some slight improvements. Southern North Bay-Subregion B, Oleta River and Princeton Canal all went from \u201cpoor\u201d condition in 2025 to \u201cfair\u201d condition in 2026.<\/p>\n

The Southern North Bay-Subregion C, , the lower portion of North Biscayne Bay, stretching just north of the Rickenbacker Causeway in Miami-Dade County, Florida, however, dropped from \u201cgood\u201d to \u201cfair.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most of the regions in Biscayne Bay were considered “fair,” meaning: “These regions or indicators are experiencing water quality and\/or ecological degradation. Essential ecological functions and species diversity are limited in performing beneficial functions at optimum levels.”<\/p>\n

The “poor” regions in Biscayne Bay means: “These regions or indicators are experiencing considerable water quality and\/or ecological degradation. Essential ecological functions and species diversity are impacted and not able to perform beneficial functions at optimum levels.”<\/p>\n

According to the County, everyday sources of pollution include:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Stormwater and sediment runoff that carries nutrients and other contaminants into storm drains<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0Uncollected dog waste that washes into waterways<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0The use of lawn fertilizers during the rainy season<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0Trash discarded on streets or directly into canals<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0Leaky or poorly maintained septic tanks<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0Improper disposal of fats, oils, and greases from homes and businesses<\/p>\n

Extensive work by field biologists and the scientific team in Miami-Dade County\u2019s Department of Environmental Resources Management led to the conclusions in the report.<\/p>\n

Thousands of samples were collected and analyzed from 138 water quality stations and 475 benthic habitat monitoring sites. Key indicators studied include the levels of nutrients, bacteria and chlorophyll, along with water clarity and the health of seagrass and sponges.<\/p>\n

The report card is part of a broader, ongoing state and county effort that has now pushed the Biscayne Bay Water Quality Improvement Grant Program<\/a> past $100 million, including a $20 million round of state grants Gov. Ron DeSantis announced in December.<\/p>\n

“What we’ve already done has made a difference,” DeSantis said at the time. “People are very pleased with that, but we’re not done.”<\/p>\n

Florida\u2019s Fiscal Year 2026-27 budget includes $45 million for the priority areas of the Indian River Lagoon and Biscayne Bay.<\/p>\n

Miami-Dade County DERM Director and Chief Resilience Officer Loren Parra said: \u201cBiscayne Bay is not just a source of beauty and inspiration, it is also our community\u2019s economic powerhouse, generating $64 billion each year in tourism, entertainment, boating, aquatic sports, real estate and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom Miami Gardens to Homestead, from Miami Beach to Hialeah, our communities, our jobs, and our quality of life depend on a thriving Biscayne Bay. For all these reasons, we invite everyone to think about what they can do to protect our Bay every single day.”<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> to view the Biscayne Bay Report Card and others from past years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Troubled waters remain across much of Biscayne Bay, with a wide range of “fair” to “poor” conditions still…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":408205,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[11671,162152,588,126,123,162153,162151,125,124,373],"class_list":["post-408204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-biscayne-bay","tag-biscayne-bay-report-card","tag-daniella-levine-cava","tag-key-biscayne","tag-miami","tag-miami-dade-county-department-of-environmental-resources-management","tag-miami-dade-county-mayor","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-miami-dade-county"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=408204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408204\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/408205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=408204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=408204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=408204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}