A lot of people live Miami Dade County for its beaches, but flooding is a problem in Miami Dade County. I have seen streets in many parts of Miami Dade County so flooded that you cannot walk through them or drive through them. One of the ways to reduce flooding is to reduce impervious surfaces.

You don't need heavy rainfall for there to be flooding in areas where there are impervious surfaces, however impervious surfaces cause flooding. Impervious surfaces like concrete and asphalt are common in urban areas. 

Miami-Dade County has different types of wetlands like mangroves, marshes and swamps. Although we do not know the number of wetlands that Miami Dade County currently has, the number of wetlands in Miami Dade County is declining because Miami Dade County keeps giving developers and companies permits to build on wetlands. Our wetlands have been paved over with concrete and asphalt. The less wetlands that our county has, the more impervious surfaces increase.

When water hits an impervious surface, it is not absorbed and this causes runoff, flooding, erosion and water pollution and problems for drainage systems.

Impervious materials like concrete and asphalt also contribute to the urban heat island effect because they absorb and retain heat which leads to hotter weather and more energy use by residents of Miami Dade County.

Wetlands improve our county's water quality by helping to remove pollution before they reach Biscayne Bay. Wetlands also help recharge our aquifer, protect against coastal erosion and provide habitat for fish like the largemouth bass, bluegill and Florida gar and plants like water lilies, bladderworts. 

We need less flooding, less impervious surfaces and more wetlands. Section 404 of the Clean Water Act says that every time a wetland is destroyed, it must be replaced by creating or enhancing another wetland. This shows the importance of wetlands. 

Miami Dade County's Wetlands Advisory Task Force had its last meeting in July 2012 and gave their recommendations to Miami Dade County commissioners. Those recommendations did not include plans to stop giving permits to build on wetlands.

Tell Miami Dade County commissioners to stop giving companies and people permits to build on wetlands and do a survey to study the health of our wetlands and to investigate how many wetlands there are currently left in Miami Dade County.