News Analysis
MILT THOMAS
At a recent County Commission meeting, a great deal of time was devoted to discussing the troubled Indian River Lagoon and what to do about it. The problems are complex and much greater than our county alone can solve. In fact, the lagoon stretches through seven counties and it will certainly take a proactive plan all seven can agree on to reverse years of neglect and abuse.
After hearing about one promising pilot project in the Spoonbill Marsh presented by Charles Sembler and Chip Swindell, Commissioner Peter O’Bryan presented his own action plan, which takes into consideration all aspects of the problem and delineates steps that can be taken immediately and in the future.
Commisssioner Tim Zorc is also creating a private committee including scientists and private parties that will create a separate plan. Once that is completed, the Commission will look to merge the two plans and possibly other alternatives into a master plan. The enthusiasm and commitment to action was apparent at the meeting and hopefully will inspire the other six counties to become involved in saving and protecting one of our greatest shared assets, the Indian River Lagoon.
Here are the details of Commissioner O’Bryan’s plan for your review:
ASSUMPTIONS FOR ACTION PLAN
THINGS WE KNOW NOW
There has been a significant loss of habitat for juvenile fish and other organisms in the lagoon.
There are multiple sources of nutrients entering the lagoon including upland runoff sources (agriculture activities, runoff from cattle, domestic pet waste, residential fertilizer use, grass clippings, etc) as well as possible sources from old septic tanks leaching into the water table.
The Indian River Lagoon is a significant economic driver having a positive $3.7 billion annual contribution along its 156 mile length. Economically, it’s worth fixing.
Stopping pollution at its source is the most cost effective solution to lagoon pollution
Restoration activities will range from relatively inexpensive to significantly expensive. It will require the coordination of local, state and federal agencies to implement solutions. Most importantly, it will require the support of the general population. A healthy lagoon benefits the entire community. It will take the entire community to help fix it.
THINGS WE DON’T KNOW NOW
What really caused the seagrass die-off. There seems to be multiple theories with the primary ones as follows.
Hyper saline conditions in the northern portion of the lagoon (north of Melbourne) either killed off the drift (macro) algae (without drift algae to uptake nutrients microalgae blooms resulted, thereby killing off sea grasses due to sunlight blockage), or hyper saline conditions are more favorable to microalgae, allowing them to bloom and block sunlight to the sea grasses. In addition, some of the blooms, in particular the brown algae, may be directly toxic. The microalgae blooms migrated south into Indian River county, killing off sea grasses down to 17th St. bridge. (see attachment 1.)
Excessive nutrient run off into the lagoon triggered microalgae blooms, again killing off sea grasses by blocking sunlight.
Excessive hydrogen sulfide released from mosquito control impoundments, converts to sulfate and deposits into the sediment at levels high enough to be directly toxic to sea grasses, killing off the grass. With sea grasses gone and unavailable to uptake nutrients, microalgae blooms result.
- In all scenarios, two winters of extremely cold weather (2010, 2011) plus summer upwelling of deep, cold, nutrient rich waters may have weakened the sea grasses and/or macro algae and left them more susceptible to the other impacts.
- In all likelihood, we will not know the true cause of the die-off.
How much impact each source of nutrients has on the lagoon. While there is agreement that too many nutrients are entering the lagoon, there is not enough scientific data to identify which source(s) are having the greatest impact.
What is the solution to fix the lagoon? There doesn’t seem to be a ‘magic bullet’ for the solution. In all likelihood, as the impacts are multiple and complex, the fix will also be multiple and range in complexity.
How much will it cost to fix it? As per the bullet above, remediation will range from relatively inexpensive to significantly expensive, depending upon the scope and complexity of the project. However, a long term total cost approaching$500 million would not be unreasonable to plan and budget for. Remediation will need to be phased in as short, medium and long range projects with identified funding sources, which will probably include local, state and federal monies.
WHAT CAN WE ASSUME GOING FORWARD
The lagoon won’t get better unless we take action. We need to make a total commitment to take a leadership role in the lagoon recovery. While future remediation projects will be dependent upon research work yet to be done, there are many other projects we can begin implementing immediately. Let’s get to work!
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY ACTION PLAN
FOR THE
INDIAN RIVER LAGOON
SHORT TERM STRATEGIES
Intensify educational efforts with our state legislators, in particular the Governor, on the importance and economic benefit of the lagoon, so research/remediation money does not get vetoed out of state budgets.
In addition, lobby our Federal legislatures to direct EPA and ACOE to issue rules that provide a “no harm” rule for alternative ag practices. This is the biggest hold up to a couple of pilot “water farming” projects.
Begin TMDL reductions and habitat restoration.
Oyster bed pilot project at FDOT freshwater outfall, building on success of Spoonbill Marsh, oysters filter water, create lost habitat for food chain, create recreational fishing areas. Data to be collected to be used for grant application to install beds at all FDOT outfalls.
Begin installation of baffle boxes at all FDOT outfalls to trap and collect sediment prior to reaching lagoon. We had a presentation by a consultant who can help with grant applications (see attachment 2.) Plan and budget for periodic clean out.
Expedite construction of the south county algal scrubber project.
Direct County Administrator to create a new code enforcement position for “nutrient enforcement”. Duties will be focused on education and compliance with state and local laws regarding fertilizing, lawn clippings, training, etc. This will also include outreach to the 100’s of landscape companies to educate them on new certification laws.
Implement county fertilizer ordinance as per state requirements. Assuming above bullet point is approved, our ordinance will be effective due to dedicated enforcement mechanism.
Pass ordinance requiring higher standards for older, existing septic tank systems that are in need of replacement or major repair.
Design and implement projects to run new sewer lines to communities identified as having a significant number of septic tank systems installed prior to 1983.
Install Kilroy’s and begin collecting data. Consider expanding number of Kilroy’s, e.g. one Kilroy upstream from skimmer on main canal, and one Kilroy downstream. Will also need to establish a data collection system, so as various researchers provide data, it can be assembled in one, easy to access data warehouse.
Work with City of Vero Beach (and to some extent with City of Sebastian) on pump out procedures at City Marina and other long term dockage areas (Grand Harbor, Quail Valley, etc). Who has authority to monitor holding tanks and storage? How will a more aggressive pump out program be funded? Martin County just approved purchase of two new pump out boats (with DEP grant paying for 75%) plus funding a position (see attachment 3).
Begin budgeting and identifying revenue sources for stormwater holding area and sewer system expansion. This could include looking at county wide Stormwater District.
Increase public education efforts. For example, “Be a Life Saver for the Indian River Lagoon” brochure. Consider re-funding stormwater position and or public outreach position for lagoon (see attachment 4).
Explore City of Vero Beach use of Dodgertown Golf Course property as a stormwater park to treat water from main relief canal.
Educate pet owners that just because they bag their dog’s feces, throwing the bag into the storm drain is not the proper disposal strategy. KIRB has a stencil that can be painted on the roadside curbs (see attachment 5).
MEDIUM RANGE STRATIGIES
Plan, budget, and develop expansion of the Spoonbill Marsh in coordination with Grand Harbor and Indian River Land Trust.
Work with local water control districts to explore strategies to increase holding time and treatment of water in drainage ditches.
Work with scientific community and Water Management Districts to determine optimal freshwater input to the lagoon. Hyper salinity is also a problem and the lagoon needs a balance of clean, steady freshwater inflows to remain a diverse estuary (see attachment 6).
Continue working with scientific community and support research into natural and manmade activities that impact the quality of the lagoon.
Apply for grants to expand the oyster bed projects to cover all freshwater discharges into the lagoon.
Evaluate changes to LDR’s to look at ways to reduce run off into SW retention areas, e.g., instead of sloping the back yard right into the retention area, require a slight berm at water’s edge. Also on ranchettes do we really need to require 5 acres of sod?
LONG RANGE STRATEGIES
Design, budget and build restoration of spoil islands back to a more natural, Spoonbill Marsh like habitat. Examples could be some of the “Lost Tree Islands” owned by local governments.
Design and build surface water storage areas for TMDL treatment and/or alternative water supply.
Ongoing monitoring of remediation efforts to ensure projects are successful.
Indian River Guardian 