Where is South Florida Heading? - Miami Downtown Development ...

CHARTING THE COURSEFLORIDA REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTSFlorida’s metropolitan areas share the impact of development resulting from a spiraling population. Therefore, it is notsurprising that they share many policy concerns, including concerns over water availability, lack of affordable workforcehousing, and increasing traffic congestion. Florida’s urban areas have also faced the devastation of hurricanes inthe recent past, as evidenced by coastal erosion of beaches around the state.WATER REUSESouth Florida’s core counties compare unfavorably to most of the major metropolitan counties of other regions in waterreuse. Unfortunately, the two most populous counties in the state, Miami-Dade and Broward, do not use alternativewater supplies, nor do they reuse a sufficient amount of wastewater. Palm Beach County and the northern countiesuse more reclaimed water, much of which is used for landscape irrigation. Per capita water reuse in Miami-Dade andBroward counties is below 10 gallons per person per day, compared to about 20 or more across the state’s metropolitancounties. Per capita reuse reaches over 80 gallons per day per person in Central Florida’s Orange County.Millions of Gallons per DayWater Reuse in Florida Regions20049080706050403020100Miami-Dade Broward Palm Beach Orange Hillsborough Duval EscambiaGallons per Day per PersonTotal Water ReusePer Capita Water ReuseBEACH EROSIONBeaches are a vital part of the tourist economy throughoutthe state. Beach tourism has an annual economic impact of$40 billion and 536,000 jobs. In 2004, almost 40 percent ofdomestic visitors participated in beach activities. Yet nearly60 percent of the state’s 825 miles of beaches were erodedin 2004, and, in part due to hurricanes, 45 percent werecritically eroded—threatened with loss of land for development,recreation, wildlife habitat, and cultural resources.37