The Miami River Commission secured enough funding to begin a $20 million clean-up job of a waterway that merges with the river and a request for bids will reportedly go out in March.
An $80 million U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredge project that removed five miles of mud from the bottom of the river brought attention to Wagner Creek, which goes through the health district and merges with the Miami River near Northwest Seventh Avenue, the Miami Herald reported.
Development along the Miami River, which has reportedly been dredged and filled repeatedly in the last century, has blown up recently, with projects like the nine-acre River Landing apartments, retail and linear park.
In the past, river cleanup has taken priority over the creek, which is laced with the toxin dioxin, according to the Herald.
The Florida Inland Navigational District pledged $3 million to the cleanup effort.
“You’re gonna see the water a lot cleaner and clearer. You’re going to see more manatees. You’re going to see people really able to appreciate the beauty of this area,” Spencer Crowley, Miami-Dade County Commissioner for FIND, said to the Miami Herald. “Hopefully, that’s going to result in better things happening on the upland side.” [Miami Herald] — Katherine Kallergis