As a yacht full of 20-somethings zips through Miami鈥檚 concrete jungle past Jose Marti Park, blaring Latto鈥檚 鈥淧ut It On The Floor,鈥� Aliza Karim dipped an extendable metal stick with a bottle tied at the end into the Miami River.
After flushing out the bottle three times and scooping up 100 milliliters, she lifts it up and takes a peek. The water looks pretty clear, though it鈥檚 a good bet that it鈥檚 teeming with bacteria that is a telltale sign of human waste.
Within days, Miamians will be able to see the results via Swim Guide, a free app that indicates whether waterways are safe for recreational use. A lot of them aren鈥檛.
There are many reasons for that. For instance, it happens to be a typical South Florida rainy day during this sampling visit. That can be bad news for water quality in the Miami River and waterways across the region. Stormwater collected through grates in the street pour out into the canal鈥檚 outfalls, carrying with them a whole host of nasty stuff.
It鈥檚 not just bad for these locations. Miami River and many of those canals ultimately feed into bigger bodies of water like Biscayne Bay 鈥� a lagoon that scientists have long said is on life support from pollution and other problems. This could be particularly bad for the bay, as this year鈥檚 record sea surface temperatures mixed with runoff could prompt fish kills.
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鈥淲ith rainfall comes stormwater runoff,鈥� Karim said. 鈥淭hat means all of the fertilizer, the dog poo, the septic tank leaking, which is usually raw sewage, is also running in through the stormwater system into the water.鈥�
This sampling effort is a weekly habit for Karim, Miami Waterkeeper鈥檚 water quality research manager, whose team samples 27 sites across Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
And looking at the , water quality problems are widespread.
What Karim and her team are monitoring for in routine checks 鈥� along with factors like turbidity, salinity and temperature 鈥� is enterococci bacteria, a pollutant living in the intestinal tracts of warm-blooded animals. Water scientists generally use it as an indicator of poop matter and a warning sign for public health.
This spot, Jose Marti Park, didn鈥檛 meet recreational standards 59.7% of the time in 2022, according to the report.
Though enterococci bacteria in small doses isn鈥檛 necessarily dangerous, Karim said levels can often signal there are more harmful viral pathogens afoot. 鈥淏y itself, enterococci bacteria is not harmful,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut if it鈥檚 high or in high amounts, you鈥檙e much more likely to be exposed to something harmful.鈥�
The group uses recreational standards to measure bacteria in the water 鈥� enterococci levels above 70 enterococci per 100 milliliters of water indicate a high level. Moderate levels are 36-70 enterococci per 100 mL, and a good level is 35 or less.
Sampling sites were chosen to reflect areas where there may be recreational use of the water, Karim said.
Eleven of the 27 sites failed more than half of its tests in 2022 across Broward and Miami-Dade counties. The Miami Herald reached out to officials in each area with a bacteria hotspot to further investigate what cities are doing to mitigate bacteria issues. Here are the sites with the biggest issues last year:
NORTH MIAMI: WEST ARCH CREEK
Miami Waterkeeper only began sampling West Arch Creek in June 2022. But in only a short while, its numbers have been staggering 鈥� out of all 27 sites, it failed the most bacteria tests, with a 98.1% fail rate last year.
The creek passes through both Arch Creek Park and Enchanted Forest Elaine Gordon Park, eventually flowing into Biscayne Bay.
Arch Creek Park is county-run 鈥� with a bacteria problem leaders are aware of through routine testing at the Department of Environmental Resources Management, said director Lisa Spadafina.
鈥淚t ebbs and flows,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he conditions of the day can really dictate what鈥檚 happening out there.鈥�
The county is constantly monitoring sewage systems, she said, and also implemented a program in 2022 called , which aims to replace and update the county鈥檚 nearly 9,000 septic tank systems that could fail under current conditions.
鈥淭he [county] mayor is taking this very seriously,鈥� Spadafina said. 鈥淲e have many initiatives, multi-millions of dollars being spent on capital improvement infrastructure and projects, in addition to all of our monitoring so that we can have a better handle on the sources of our pollution.鈥�
NORTH MIAMI BEACH: EAST GREYNOLDS PARK
In North Miami Beach, East Greynolds Park is home to a kayak launch and a fishing dock. It鈥檚 also a popular hotspot for residents to walk their dogs 鈥� something that could be a contributing factor to the canal鈥檚 pollution levels.
The park makes the list with a 51.2% fail rate.
A city spokesperson didn鈥檛 respond to questions about North Miami Beach鈥檚 efforts to improve quality in time for publication, but it鈥檚 also part of the canal system the county has a handle on.
Though progress is gradual, Spadafina said she鈥檚 optimistic residents will see water quality improvements in canals in the next couple of years. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 necessarily do it overnight,鈥� Spadafina said. 鈥淏ut we are extremely committed to seeing all of these things through so that eventually over time, we can start moving the needle in the opposite direction.鈥�
MIAMI: LITTLE RIVER, JOSE MARTI PARK AND BISCAYNE CANAL
There are two testing sites along Miami鈥檚 Little River, both of which fell at or above a 84% fail rate for bacteria sampling. Jose Marti Park and Biscayne Canal had 59.7% and 53.5% fail rates, respectively.
Jose Marti Park is a favorite for ships to pass through to larger waterways. Miami Country Day School offers students canoeing and kayaking opportunities along Biscayne Canal, so both are frequently used for recreation.
When asked about what鈥檚 being done at these sites, city of Miami spokesperson Kenia Fallat said stormwater systems feeding into Little River are inspected twice a year and upkeep happens every two years, compared to three to five year maintenance for other sites. The city tests water quality twice a year.
Other actions to keep canals clean include litter control, education about fertilizer ordinances and new sewer grates to prevent debris and waste from spilling into the river through the stormwater system, Fallat said.
Christi LeMahieu, lab director of Surfrider Miami鈥檚 Blue Water Task Force that tests a separate set of waters 鈥� mostly beaches 鈥� said she has noticed a noticeable drop in water quality since the group began testing in 2018.
Surfrider鈥檚 testing, which complements that of Miami Waterkeeper, is continuing to ramp up as it nears 25 sites. Its results are also available via Swim Guide.
鈥淭he beaches seem to be OK,鈥� LeMahieu said. 鈥淏ut the the inner canals and Biscayne Bay are our problem child.鈥�
FORT LAUDERDALE: SWEETING PARK, ANNIE BECK PARK, HIMMARSHEE CANAL AND TARPON RIVER
In Broward County, canals in Fort Lauderdale fared poorly last year.
Sweeting Park came in dead last in all of South Florida, failing bacteria tests 93.9% of the time. Himmarshee Canal, the Tarpon River and Annie Beck Park were problematic, too, failing 76.9%, 64.6% and 53.8% of the time, respectively.
Most of the canals at these sites are far inland and don鈥檛 get flushed out often by tidal action. That can be an issue as pollution tends to snowball in standing water, said Rachel Silverstein, Miami Waterkeeper鈥檚 executive director.
鈥淲aters that are further from the ocean typically have higher bacteria levels,鈥� Silverstein said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e not getting very well flushed by the ocean. Areas that are closer to the coast are having more tidal interchange between either the bay or the ocean, so they鈥檙e a little bit cleaner.鈥�
The city is well aware of the issue.
Nancy Gassman, Fort Lauderdale鈥檚 assistant public works director, said recreational limits are the 鈥渕ost conservative鈥� standard the city could be holding itself to.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a bacterial concern in almost all urban waterways,鈥� Gassman said. 鈥淭his is not unique. It鈥檚 just that we happen to be monitoring and using a recreational standard that is available to the public in near real time so that they can determine whether they want to recreate those waters.鈥�
These three sites aren鈥檛 officially cleared for water sport activities, she said. But city officials worked with Miami Waterkeeper because they are spots where residents could enter the water with a kayak or canoe.
Signs at each location warn residents of potential water quality issues, each with QR codes that take them directly to the Swim Guide app, Gassman said, in an effort to allow people to educate themselves with their smartphones.
Fort Lauderdale is constantly looking for potential sources of pollution like pet waste or sewage leaks, she said. But that鈥檚 not always a simple task.
鈥淭here鈥檚 always action being taken,鈥� Gassman said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not always easy to find the source of a particular bacterial concern.鈥�
