Bioswales

The City of Miami Beach is investing in green infrastructure projects as part of its resilience goals. Green infrastructure uses the natural environment and its elements to provide engineered solutions such as bio-swales.

Bio-swales are a natural alternative to storm sewers since they can absorb water flows and carry runoff from storms to storm sewer inlets. Bioswales filter storm runoff, which enhances local water quality. Bioswales work great in local habitats because they can work with native plants in their natural environments, meaning they can be implemented with very little change to the surrounding landscape. Bioswales are a great natural way to reduce stormwater runoff and filter stormwater, which is especially important in areas such as Miami Beach, which experience frequent heavy rain events.

Benefits of Bioswales

Bioswales provide a variety of eco-system benefits such as:

Removing silt, heavy metals and other pollutants from stormwater. This is especially beneficial in urban settings, where the concentration of pollutants is high, particularly in the proximity of roads.
Providing water absorption and infiltration that improves recharge and helps prevent polluted water from entering groundwater.
Resulting in a higher biodiversity value than alternative solutions such as gutters. Native vegetation provides a diversity of flora that serves as a habitat for fauna.
Promoting evaporation and does not absorb as much heat as paved surfaces which reduces the urban heat island effect
Promoting environmental stewardship by adding aesthetic and recreational value - improving the quality of life for the community.

La Gorce Project

The City of Miami Beach is investigating the use of stormwater infrastructure best management practices to address water quality issues for Biscayne Bay, which is designated an Outstanding Florida Water by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

As new infrastructure is being contemplated by the City for the La Gorce neighborhood to address climate resiliency, integrating stormwater best management practices such as bioswales is one of the strategies that can be deployed to address both water quality (treatment) and quantity (attenuation) concerns. As an initial investigation into bioswales, the City is seeking to implement demonstration projects as a means to test the efficacy and value of this technology to provide water quality improvements and attenuation of the runoff from developed areas of the City.

Planting Palette:

Levenworth's Tickseed (Coreopsis leavenworthii)
Beach Golden Creeper (Ernodea littoralis)
Wind Dancer Lovegrass (Eragrostis elliottoi)
Muhly Grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris)
Dwarf Fakahatchee Grass (Tripsacum floridanum)
Coontie (Zamia pumila)

Quick links