BY MARK SCHUMANN

Opining about how actions speak louder than words, a newspaper editorial today argued that the Vero Beach City Council should do more than make pronouncements in support of protecting the Indian River Lagoon.

Ironically, the editorial writer failed to acknowledge that the City Council adopted and is enforcing a model fertilizer ordinance, though the Indian River County Commission has refused to do the same.

Rather than implementing an ordinance that could limit dangerous runoff into the Lagoon, the County Commission opted for a toothless education program, and soon thereafter laid off the County employee responsible for administering the program.

The editorial was prompted by the City Council’s plans to pass a resolution supporting a “call to action” by the Ocean Research and Conservation Association. Speaking recently at the Indian River Lagoon Symposium sponsored by the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, ORCA board member John Orcutt make a case for looking to county governments, not cities, to take the lead in Lagoon restoration efforts.

The Lagoon, Orcutt said, cannot be saved without effective government action. Rather than continuing to have several layers of local, state and federal agencies working redundantly and sometimes at cross purposes, Orcutt said it is time to embrace a paradigm shift that places more emphasis on what county commissions can accomplish with local support, and with assistance from the state and federal government.

Orcutt said the kind of measures needed to save the lagoon, such as reversing the flow of pollutant laden drainage canals, cannot happen without the commitment and involvement of the five county commissions from Volusia County to Martin County.

Chiding Vero Beach, or any small municipality, especially one facing serious budget cuts, is to miss the bigger picture and to overlook the larger source of the problem.

Only one of the county’s main relief canals flows into the Lagoon within the city limits. And even that canal, as it flows into the city at 43^rd avenue, is already carrying polluted runoff from lands over which the County Commission has jurisdiction. These areas, of course, are not covered by a fertilizer ordinance.

What is the city to do with polluted runoff the county is sending its way?

While pointing finders is hardly the answer to the problem ailing the Lagoon, looking in the wrong direction for the cause of the problem and overlooking the likely source of any meaningful solution won’t do anything to save the Lagoon.

Should the city be prepared to do more than enforce a fertilizer ordinance and pass resolutions in support of private efforts? Absolutely!

However, as Orcutt told those gathered for the Indian River Lagoon Symposium last month, the lead for effective action will have to be taken by county commissions. The Indian River County Commission could take an important step in the right direction by adopting and enforcing a fertilizer ordinance.

Beyond taking this rudimentary first step, the county needs to solve its own problems with the brine coming from its reverse osmosis water treatment plants.

All five county commissions from Volusia to Martin should also begin serious discussions about reversing the flow of the drainage canals to reservoirs west of Interstate 95 which could filter the water before it seeps back into the water table.