Miami-Dade's Storm Drains
are Breeding Mosquitoes

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Introduction

In the summer of 2003, then Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas, announced the beginning of "the most aggressive flood mitigation program in the history of Miami-Dade County" born from "an unprecedented partnership between the County, the State and the Federal government." Although I'm certain this program was crafted from only the best of intentions—aiming to reduce future flood damage and cleanse our waters following Best Management Practices from The Clean Water Act—unfortunately it forgot long-standing public health laws. Internally, the county has labeled this as DERM's DORM Program. DERM is the county's Department of Environmental Resources Management and DORM is its Division of Recovery and Mitigation.

Since then, about 3000 new storm drains were installed in much of the 24 square miles bounded by the Palmetto Expressway, Tamiami Trail, Southwest 137th Avenue and Sunset Drive. Unfortunately most of the catch basins in these storm drains permanently hold standing water that breeds mosquitoes which can spread diseases. (A 15 minute walk around a block or two in either my neighborhood or nearby neighborhoods will find a dozen or so catch basins with stagnant, standing water, likely to be breeding mosquitoes.) Both Florida statutes and Miami-Dade County ordinances define "the creation, maintenance, or causing of any condition capable of breeding ... mosquitoes" as an illegal sanitary nuisance. The sanitary nuisance laws exist to protect the public from life-threatening diseases and illnesses. While these laws are rarely discussed, they are paramount to public safety and should be strictly enforced. They're not being enforced in Miami-Dade County, Florida.

(Although Mayor Penelas was quoted as saying the program budget was $1 billion, I believe the budget for these 3000 storm drains was approximately $70 million—but I'm not sure.)

What I've learned

Starting in October 2003, I've tried to work with the County to have the problem resolved, and recently tried to get the Florida Department of Health to help. I've made almost no progress, but have learned some disturbing things:

DERM's engineers don't consider mosquito breeding to be a problem; their only objectives for storm drain projects are to prevent flooding damage and prevent pollutants from stormwater runoff from reaching open bodies of water. They believe mosquito problems are the responsibility of Public Works' Mosquito Control Division. Because of their beliefs, any future similar projects are likely to be built with the same dangerous design.
"The Mosquito Control Division does not routinely inspect storm drains due to funding limitations" so their policy is to do nothing until they receive specific complaints from citizens. However, for each citizen that complains, they will only apply larvicide one time to the two or three catch basins found within 100 yards of the citizen's address. It doesn't matter that individual inspectors who come out know that mosquitoes are breeding in more catch basins; they are only allowed to apply larvicides near the properties registering official complaints. (The good news is they come out quickly as often as called. Unfortunately, few citizens call with complaints, I believe because they aren't aware of the process or the dangers from mosquitoes.)
The Miami-Dade County Health Department (and its parent agency, the Florida Department of Health) won't enforce the laws. They say it would be an "unfeasible burden on Agency resources" to enforce the law. They say if they file a lawsuit against the county, they must cite particular locations that are at that time a sanitary nuisance. However, as soon as they file, the county will apply larvicides to those specific catch basins and "any Health Department action for injunctive relief would be subject to dismissal for mootness each time the particular mosquito problem that forms the basis of the Health Department’s lawsuit is eliminated." (Oddly, that argument says if they would do their job, they would solve the problem—but they don't see it that way.) They say, "this is a discretionary matter that the Department of Health will not pursue." It doesn't matter that they know mosquitoes are breeding (because the catch basins are designed to hold standing water and that the County says it can't afford to treat the storm drains.) In fact, it is their "Legal Department's understanding that many storm drains are capable of breeding mosquitoes." They won't even ask the county to follow the recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control. They don't see this as a public health issue that warrants their involvement.
California recently completed a comprehensive, multi-year, multi-agency study that considered this problem. The California study found solutions that include specific designs of stormwater systems that meet all Clean Water Act requirements, achieve all FEMA Flood Mitigation objectives and virtually eliminate mosquito breeding. There's no reason for Miami-Dade to continue using old, mosquito-breeding designs when the California study provides the solutions.
Based on the California study, it will cost our county's Mosquito Control Division more than $2 million each year to continually abate mosquito production with larvicide in 3000 catch basins. The county says it is trying to get federal funds for routine storm drain larvicide treatments, but is not trying to modify storm drain designs to eliminate the cause of the problem. (I haven't been able to get the county to tell me the status of their efforts to get federal funding.) As concerns for chemical pollution increase, the number of larvicides that are approved for use in storm drains gets smaller. Soon there may not be an allowable, effective larvicide.
According to Tom Floore, Public Health Entomology Research & Education Center, Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University, "Mosquitoes cause more human suffering than any other organism—over one million people die from mosquito-borne diseases every year." We don't think mosquitoes are dangerous in the United States because public health laws were passed several generations ago that have virtually eliminated all mosquito-borne illness in our country. We have no memory of the suffering of our ancestors, so we're ignorant of the dangers.

Why isn't the law being enforced?

How can the Florida Department of Health and its branch, the Miami-Dade County Health Department, ignore this obvious public health threat considering their mission is to "promote and protect the health of our community through prevention and preparedness today, for a healthier tomorrow?" Their own fact sheet says, "the best way to prevent infection from ... viruses that you can get from mosquitoes is to avoid mosquitoes' bites and reduce their population around your home" and "to reduce the mosquito population around your home, get rid of all standing water...." So we now have tens of thousands of Miami-Dade homes surrounded by standing water in most of these new storm drains, and the Health Department sees no reason to interfere. Why aren't alarm bells ringing when Miami-Dade's Director of Public Works reports that a one-time sample of 202 of these storm drains in December 2004 found 43% to be breeding mosquitoes? What stronger evidence is needed to know that these storm drains are designed, installed or maintained in such a way that they pose a threat to public health? It is disingenuous for the Health Department to take the position that it is dangerous for individual citizens to allow standing water on their private property, while it is safe for government agencies to allow standing water on public property. The mosquitoes don't know the difference.

After a year of letters, email messages and phone calls to the Florida Department of Health asking that the law be enforced, on December 15, 2005 they wrote to Miami-Dade County saying only that, "abatement of the problems associated with mosquito breeding in storm drains remains a high priority for the Department of Health". If it's such a high priority, why won't they send their employees to investigate? If it's such a high priority, why do they refuse to enforce the law?

The problem is getting worse

On November 2, 2004, Miami-Dade voters passed the Building Better Communities Bond Program including a $378 million bond issue to construct and improve water, sewer and flood control systems. Of this $378 million, $117 million is allocated for similar, mosquito-breeding storm drains. It is imperative that we change our public policy now to require that all drainage programs focus on public health and safety before property protection and water quality. No more storm drains should be installed with the current, potentially deadly design. Construction crews currently installing storm drains with the mosquito-breeding design should be stopped now. Existing storm drains that breed mosquitoes must be eliminated or modified so they comply with public health laws.

Getting help from the Mayor

On February 4, 2005, I wrote to recently-elected Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez asking for help. Thanks to the Mayor's office:

On February 17, 2005, I met with Ms. Millie Garcia-Navarro of his staff where I provided a notebook with printed copies of several letters and external resources.
On April 8, 2005, our U.S. Congressional Representatives for House districts 17, 18, 20, 21 and 25 requested federal fudning for storm drain treatments for 2006.
On April 22, 2005, I met with about 15 officials from both Miami-Dade County and the Florida Department of Health, where the problem was openly discussed leading to DERM promising to experiment on ten storm drains trying to find ways to fix them and to begin seeking ways to design future drains differently. DERM's commitment to try is laudable, but DERM's engineers don't seem convinced that there is anything that can be done.
On June 22, 2005, Carlos Espinosa from DERM provided the Mayor's Office an update, and on June 23, 2005, I responded with questions. Both are in this email message.
On August 3, 2005, Aristides Rivera from Public Works wrote saying some catch basins are treated "as part of the on going complaint driven inspection process" while claiming that the mosquito species most often found in catch basins is "only a suspected vector of West Nile virus" and that its significance "as a nuisance mosquito is small."
On September 26, 2005, Henry Sori from Public Works sent an email saying that $403,000 has been added to the Mosquito Control budget for storm drain treatments.
On November 17, 2005, Carlos Espinosa from DERM emailed "Stormwater Drainage Systems in Miami-Dade County: Mosquito concerns, alternatives and proposed actions" dated August 23, 2005 and Attachments.

Asking for help from other agencies

What you can do to help

First, protect yourself and your family from mosquitoes—obviously Miami-Dade County and the State of Florida aren't concerned enough to enforce their own laws.
Spread the word—tell your friends and neighbors to get involved.
Whenever you are aware of mosquitoes, call the Miami-Dade Mosquito Control Division at 305-592-1186. Ask for an inspector to come to your property and eliminate the mosquito breeding conditions, including the problems in your catch basins. They usually come out the next day. They can provide a temporary solution.
If you have catch basins near your home that permanently hold standing water (a properly designed storm drain should be dry 72 hours after the last rain) call the Miami-Dade Public Works Water Management Division at 305-592-3115 to report a clogged storm drain filled with stagnant water. Ask that they clean the storm drain. They can schedule a crew to clean the drain with a large vacuum truck.
If you have catch basins near your home that permanently hold standing water, call the Miami-Dade County Health Department (this is a state agency, a branch of the Florida Department of Health) at 305-623-3574 to register a sanitary nuisance complaint. They have a duty to enforce state and county laws which prohibit conditions that allow mosquitoes to breed. They don't want to help; they'll tell you to call the county's Mosquito Control Division because it's not their problem. Remind them the law says they have a duty to investigate and insist that they open a formal sanitary nuisance investigation. If they continue to refuse to take your complaint, then call the Secretary of the Department of Health, Dr. Ana M. Viamonte Ros, at 1-877-798-2772 x4321 and ask her to get involved and help.
Call Mayor Carlos Alvarez at 305-375-5071 and ask him to help. Remind him that these storm drains are violating county and state public health laws that exist to protect us. Tell him they need to be fixed before we have a West Nile Virus epidemic like Chicago had in 2002 that killed 41 people.
Visit the CDC's West Nile Virus web site to learn more about the importance of mosquito protection.
If you have horses, get them vaccinated now. Unfortunately there are no vaccines available for humans, but they are available for horses. To learn how you can best protect your horses, read the USDA's Animal Disease Alert.

Articles Discussing the Problem

The March/April 2002 issue of Stormwater, the Journal for Surface Water Quality Professionals, has two articles on this subject:

The Dark Side of Stormwater Runoff Management: Disease Vectors Associated with Structural BMPs including the sidebar Designing and Building a Better BMP and
Stormwater, BMPs and Vectors: The Impact of New BMP Construction on Public Health Agencies including the two sidebars Vector-Control Costs at a Glance and Benefiting From Local Public Agencies.

Marco E. Metzger, Vector-Borne Disease Section, California Department of Health Services warns against mosquitoes breeding in storm drains in Managing Mosquitoes in Stormwater Treatment Devices.

The state of Virginia, Department of Conservation and Recreation, Stormwater Management Program warns against the problem in its Technical Bulletin No. 8, VECTOR CONTROL Mosquitoes & Stormwater Management.

Dr. Merilee Karr writes about the problem in Mosquitoes Call Stormdrains "Home" from the Spring 2004 issue of Northwest Public Health.

Marco E. Metzger provides a list of Stormwater-Related References.

This is a national problem

Miami-Dade is not alone. The California Studies reported that of 72 agencies across the country that completed their questionnaire, 86% reported mosquito breeding in drainage systems. Congress has heard testimony on the problem. In 2002, there were 634 cases of West Nile Virus in Cook County, Illinois (Chicago) resulting in 41 human deaths.

United States Federal Government

On October 10, 2002, the United States Congress Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee heard testimony on this problem:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued its recommendations concerning the problem:

West Nile Cases

2005 Weekly West Nile Virus Maps

CDC ArboNET presents current and historical information on confirmed West Nile Virus cases by County throughout the United States. The data are reported separately each year for Birds, Humans, Mosquitoes, Sentinel animals (usually chickens) and Veterinary (usually horses) cases. For example, there were 21 Human cases in Miami-Dade County, Florida in 2004.

States with the highest numbers of West Nile Virus human deaths, by year
2005 California - 19 human deaths - 880 human cases
2004 California - 28 human deaths - 779 human cases
2003 Colorado - 63 human deaths - 2947 human cases
2002 Illinois - 66 human deaths - 884 human cases

California Studies

The California Department of Transportation, Caltrans, Division of Environmental Analysis has recently completed a comprehensive, multi-year study in cooperation with other public agencies that included concerns about mosquitoes breeding in storm drains. Section 1.8 of the BMP Retrofit Pilot Program Final Report 2.45 Mb and the documents in its Appendix E: Vector Monitoring and Abatement focus on mosquitoes breeding in storm drains. All 13 documents in its Appendix E are listed below:

The Law

Miami-Dade County Law - Chapter 26A of the Code of Miami-Dade County, Florida.

Florida State Law - Chapter 386 of the Florida Statutes.

On March 17, 2005 the Florida Department of Health provided this Legal Memorandum explaining their reasons for not enforcing the law.

On March 31, 2005, Dr. John Agwunobi, Florida's then Secretary of Health, speaking for Governor Jeb Bush, wrote this letter, referencing the above Legal Memorandum, ignoring our request to overrule the Department of Health's decision to not enforce the law.

Google Searches

Mosquitoes breeding in storm drains

The Clean Water Act and storm water flood mitigation

Recent Press

May 5, 2005 - Mosquito Magnets - WSVN Channel 7

May 8, 2005 - Alvarez focused on health concern - Miami Herald

May 16, 2005 - Perspectives on Storm Drains and Mosquitoes - Miami Herald

June 16, 2005 - Mosquitoes swamp communities - Miami Herald - West Kendall Neighbors

February 20 and 22, 2006 - Action Line articles plus original two messages sent to Action Line - Miami Herald

Request For More Information

Please notify of any additional references to mosquitoes breeding in storm drains, especially regarding The Clean Water Act and FEMA Flood Mitigation Programs, or if you find any broken links or errors on this web page.

Miami-Dade's Storm Drains are Breeding Mosquitoes