Student Research Maps Miami-Dade Septic Risk Sites Amid Rising Seas

A University of Miami industrial engineering graduate student has conducted research that shows which sites in Miami-Dade County are at risk and proposes strategies to make those septic systems more resilient to sea level rise. It is a scenario that plays out at least three times a year at Matthew Lawrence’s Central Broward County home: torrential rains saturate the drainfield in his backyard, causing his septic system to operate inefficiently.“It’s never gotten to the point where sewage comes to the surface, and that’s owing to the fact that I maintain my system well and take proper precautions,” says Lawrence, a commercial