BISCAYNE BAY WATERKEEPER INC
2103 Coral Way 2nd Floor, Miami, FL 33145 www.miamiwaterkeeper.org

---

Organizations Filed Purposes: Biscayne Bay Waterkeeper's (aka Miami Waterkeeper's) mission is to protect South Florida's watershed through citizen engagement and community action rooted in sound science, ensuring swimmable drinkable, fishable water for all. Through our work, we hope to ensure clean and vibrant South Florida waters and a coastal culture for generations to come.

In 2019, Biscayne Bay Waterkeeper, Inc. (d/b/a Miami Waterkeeper) continued to pursue our mission of swimmable, drinkable, fishable water in South Florida through community outreach, education, scientific research, and legal advocacy. In 2019, we had a number of great successes. Water is integral to South Florida's health, economy, and culture. Recognizing this, we hosted our inaugural State of the Water address in 2019. Joined by community leaders, elected officials, and supporters, our Waterkeeper, Dr. Rachel Silverstein, spoke to some of South Florida's most pressing water issues and shed light on available solutions. We launched a new "invest in our water" campaign in 2019 to call for increased funding in municipal budgets for water resource protection. This campaign was prompted by a multi-million-gallon raw sewage spill near Oleta River State Park that was reported by a kayaker. With support from the Miami Foundation, our campaign successfully changed aspects of the Miami Dade County budget to increase investment in sewage infrastructure in order to avoid future spills. Ongoing campaigns continued to grow, including our effort to address nutrient pollution in South Florida. Excess nutrients, like the nitrogen and phosphorus found in fertilizer, can lead to algae blooms and degraded water quality. To address this, we developed a South Florida specific urban fertilizer ordinance to curb nutrient pollution, address stormwater runoff, and encourage best practices for lawn and landscaping fertilization. In 2019, North Bay Village and the Village of Islamorada both passed fertilizer ordinances to protect water resources. The outreach campaign associated with this legislative effort reached more than 6,000 people in 2019. Our legal challenges still continued through 2019 on long term battles related to coral reefs and Turkey Point nuclear power plant. Last year marked an unprecedented milestone for nuclear energy in the United States. Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant in Homestead, Florida was issued the nation's first subsequent license renewal which would allow the reactors to operate until the 2050s - giving the reactors an operating life of 80 years and soon making them the oldest reactors in the country. These reactors are already the hottest operating reactors in the United States and they are the only reactors worldwide to rely on a system of cooling canals rather than cooling towers. These cooling canals are actively contaminating South Florida's groundwater aquifer. Throughout 2019, Miami Waterkeeper - in partnership with Natural Resources Defense Council and Friends of the Earth - continued legal action before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission related to this license extension. We argued that the applicant had not adequately considered protected species, sea level rise, or ongoing groundwater contamination from the cooling canal system. In September 2019, we attended oral arguments in Washington D.C. before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board to make our case. Despite our best efforts, Turkey Point received its license for continued operation in December 2019. Our legal action will continue through 2020 on this matter. Similarly, our legal efforts related to reef protections in Port Everglades continue. Miami Waterkeeper and co-plaintiffs initiated a lawsuit in 2016 to call for more stringent protections for coral reefs in the face of the planned dredging project at the port. In 2019, we learned that our efforts have contributed to further delay of the project. The project was intended to commence in 2017 and has now been delayed to at least 2021 while the Army Corps conducts further environmental reviews to consider impacts to resources. In 2019, Miami Waterkeeper's signature programs continued to expand. 1,000 Eyes on the Water, is a volunteer-based, community-led water patrol program designed to increase our ability to monitor the Bay and the waterways of South Florida, and curb illicit pollution. We train participants to identify, document, and report pollution so they can help us protect our waterways. Our goal is to have 500 community members join our team and to have 1,000 eyes watching out for our water. In 2019, we reached 350 individuals across Miami Dade and Broward Counties through 28 workshops offered in English and in Spanish. Due to these trainings and our new water patrol team, we have been able to convene a rapid response to pollution across South Florida. 2019 was a banner year for our routine water quality monitoring program as well. In our water quality laboratory at Ransom Everglades School, we processed 446 samples and alerted the public 198 times when beach water quality failed to meet state standards. Our Junior Ambassador program also continued to flourish. In 2019, 22 high school students were trained as Junior Ambassadors and are on their way to becoming the future environmental leaders of South Florida. In 2019, Miami Waterkeeper held 29 community service events to clean up shorelines and restore approximately 24 acres of native coastal habitat. Many of these were done in partnership with the City of Miami Parks and Recreation Department. More than 900 volunteers participated in these events. In 2019, the Miami Waterkeeper was on the road speaking to diverse audiences about our mission approximately 12 times per month. We submitted more than 25 public documents and 14 public comments advocating for science-based policy change. In 2019, our small team made a tremendous impact. We continue to work to build a more resilient and sustainable South Florida, relying on best available science, coalition-building, and education to solve some of our region's most complex water problems.

---

---

Data for this page was sourced from XML published by IRS (public 990 form dataset) from: https://s3.amazonaws.com/irs-form-990/202043219349321119_public.xml