MARK SCHUMANN

A private, non-profit group organized and lead by County Commissioner Tim Zorc, civic activist Scott Stradley and marine contractor Jeffrey Meade, held its first public workshop yesterday in the Courthouse Executive Center.  According to Zorc, Stradley and Meade, they formed Save the Indian River Lagoon Now, Inc, (STIRLEN), to bring together a wide range of stakeholders to seek solutions to reverse the rapidly declining health of the Indian River Lagoon.

According to a prepared statement presented with the agenda for yesterday’s day-long workshop, “STIRLEN was formed to assemble a specialized consortium of stakeholder professionals to develop a comprehensive unfied action plan to restore the Indian River Lagoon Estuary to a stable, thriving ecosystem.”

Keynote speaker, Kirby Greene III, former head of the St. John’s Water Management District and former Deputy Secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, told the group ecological change “takes time” and that it might be 20 years before positive differences are seen in some areas.

Greene advised the group to include representatives from other counties and state officials, stressing the need to coordinate multiple efforts to restore the lagoon.  Though the needs of different regions affecting the Lagoon are interrelated, they vary. “The Orlando area is running out of water,” Greene said, explaining that the major metropolitan area just 30 miles west of the northern Indian River Lagoon is faced with the challenge of storing water and releasing it in a way that does not harm the fragile coastal ecosystem.

Todd Smith, STIRLEN’s consulting engineer, moderated the day-long workshop.  Smith opened the discussion on the topic of comprehensive testing.

David Gunter, head of the Indian River Farms Drainage District, said that group’s testing shows the nutrient levels in the canals to be just one part per million.  Active agriculture has declined over the past several decades, while the population of Indian River County has increased from 60,000 in 1980 to 138,000 in 2011.  “It’s not rocket science,” Gunter said, pointing out that the increase in population coincides with the decline in the health of the lagoon.

One proposal discussed at a lagoon symposium hosted by the County last year would be to create some 6,000 acres of retention area west of Interstate 95, where storm water would be pumped and held for use as a water supply.  Land owners fortunate enough to lease or sell their property for the project and contractors hired to instal and maintain giant pumping stations might benefit from the project, but Gunter and others are skeptical reversing the flow of the drainage canals would have any significant benefit to the lagoon.

The remainder of the day-long workshop addressed issues of sanitary sewer, septic tanks and public utilities, lagoon sedimentation and storm water runoff, and flora and fauna, including seagrass plantings and projects to create oyster and clam beds to filter lagoon water.

The group plans to hold several more open workshops and private meetings as it works toward developing proposed policies and an action plan to present to the Indian River County Commission and local municipal governments.

The formation of STIRLEN has not been without some questions and controversy.  By a 5-0 vote two weeks ago, the County Commission decided to seek a legal opinion about whether the participation of elected officials in STIRLEN would trigger Sunshine Law requirements for open meeting and records.

When the group was first announced, Zorc said one objective of establishing a non-profit group to work outside of government channels was to enable scientists and researchers to share information without having to turn over ever related document or to open every meeting of two or more researchers to the public.

County Commissioner Bob Solari described Zorc’s group as being “a (further) step away from transparency and open government.”