House Community Budget Issue Requests - Tracking Id #1219 Biscayne Bay Restoration
Requester:	South Florida Water Mgmt. Dist South Florida Water Mgmt. Dist		Organization:		Miami-Dade County
Project Title:	Biscayne Bay Restoration		Date Submitted:		01/25/2000 11:18:00 AM
District Member:	Carlos Lacasa		Service Area:		Regional
Counties Affected:	Dade
Recipient:	South Florida Water Mgmt. District		Contact:		Frank Bernardino
	P.O. Box 24680		Contact Phone:		(305) 546-8836
	West Palm Beach 33416
Project Description:
Project Description: This request includes five different projects aimed at improving water quality and habitat in Biscayne Bay, including:a cooperative program with the City of Miami intended to improve water quality in the highest priority basin of the Miami River; the construction of modifications to the L-31E levee in southeast Miami-Dade County for the purposes of restoring overland freshwater flow to creeks and sloughs that historically flowed into southern Biscayne Bay; support of the water quality monitoring program in existence since 1979; a cooperative program with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Miami-Dade County to restore mangrove and benthic communities; and the restoration freshwater flow to remnant creeks in southern Biscayne Bay.
Services Provided/Benefit to State:
Services Provided / Benefit to State: Biscayne Bay encompasses a marine ecosystem totaling approximately 428 square miles and a drainage area of 938 square miles, 350 of which are freshwater and coastal wetlands. Home to Biscayne National Park, Oleta River and Bill Baggs State Parks, and the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve, the Bay is also home to one of the largest passenger and commercial ports of call in the world, and supports important sport and commercial fisheries. As a source of recreation, Biscayne serves an impressive 16% of the State?s population, annually. In 1987 the Florida Legislature passed the SWIM Act (Ch. 373.451-373.459, F.S.) which mandated the preparation of a management plan for Biscayne Bay. The projects included in this application promote the goals of the SWIM Plan by enhancing the water quality in the bay and providing for additional habitat for fish and wildlife species.
Measurable Outcome Anticipated:
Measurable Outcome Anticipated: Each project has separate measurable outcomes which include: significantly improved water quality in Wagner Creek; the restoration of 80% of runoff through wetlands that now discharges directly from canal the L-31E outfalls; the collection of data critical to establishing water quality performance measures and TMDL?s for the bay; the restoration of approximately 5.9 acres of benthic habitat and 18.6 acres of coastal wetlands association with C-102 and C-103 construction; and the establishment of oligohaline habitat (a20 ppt salinity) in one or more creeks in south Biscayne Bay.
Amount requested from the State for this project this year:				$1,550,000
Total cost of the project:		$3,700,000

Request has been made to fund:			Construction
Is there Local Government or Private match for this request?						Yes
	Cash Amount:	$1,375,000		In-Kind Amount:		$775,000
Was this project previously funded by the State?						Yes
	Fiscal Year:	1978-1999		Amount:		$3,263,911
Is future-year funding likely to be requested?						Yes
	Amount:	$200,000
	Purpose for future year funding:				YesMonitoring
	Will this be an annual request?					Unknown
Was this project included in an Agency's Budget Request?						No
Was this project included in the Governor's Recommended Budget?						No
Is there a documented need for this project?						Yes
	Documentation:	Biscayne Bay SWIM Plan
Was this project request heard before a publicly noticed meeting of a body of elected officials (municipal, county, or state)?						Unknown