March Water News

CWC
Mar 20
4 min read

Land & Water: Issues & Solutions

The Clean Water Coalition of Indian River County (CWC), Pelican Island Audubon Society, and the Indian River Neighborhood Association – have organized a public education forum – to occur on Saturday April 25, 2026 at the Emerson Center in Vero Beach.

The Forum will entail impartial subject matter experts as speakers to increase public awareness of:

County-wide land and water resource issues – including the degraded health of the Indian River Lagoon and Blue Cypress Lake; and
the public need for State and local government actions to improve sewer infrastructure, wastewater treatment facility upgrades, stormwater management, habitat restoration, and preservation of environmental lands.

Forum participation includes a box-lunch. Registration is online at a fee of $25 with free registration for qualifying students.

Get Tickets Now!

Spotted Sea Trout: the “Canary in the coal mine”

For many fisherman on the Indian River Lagoon, the Spotted Seatrout are a prized catch. Seatrout also are a “canary in the coal mine” for Lagoon water quality. Clear, clean water - that is more saline than fresh – is needed to support Seatrout and the sea grass beds that are their primary habitat.

The presence of Seatrout and their spawning activity is a marker for good water quality in the lagoon, while the absence of spawning trout indicates polluted waters where there is too much fresh water, excessive nutrients, turbidity, and/or too little seagrass.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has published a “2025 Annual Review of Spotted Seatrout Management Metrics”. (FWC Report) which identifies:

Since 2021, seagrass has increased in the northern IRL, specifically in Mosquito Lagoon, but remains well below historical levels. Stakeholders continue to emphasize habitat loss and water quality as the main concerns for the fishery in this region.
Abundance trends indicate that young-of-year seatrout has declined since 1996.
In the northern Indian River Lagoon, the abundance of seatrout ≥ 8 inches has declined since 2010 and is now at levels similar to 1997–2009.
Recreational fishing effort has generally declined after 2005, and recent effort and landings are at the lowest levels since recreational fishing data collection started in 1997.
41% of recreational anglers and 43% of for-hire guides who responded to the 2025 FWC Seatrout Angler Satisfaction Survey report their fishing experience as “poor” or “very poor,” which was the most negative perception of the fishery in any region of the state.
Red tide does not commonly occur in this region, but other types of harmful algal blooms are a common occurrence and can negatively impact water quality and habitat.

The Canary indicates troubled waters in the Indian River Lagoon.

Dry Stretch Deepens Acrossthe St. Johns River District

Four consecutive months of below-average rainfall have pushed water conditions across the St. Johns River Water Management District into genuinely worrying territory, and Indian River County is feeling it along with most of the region.

February was particularly bad. Districtwide rainfall averaged just 1.58 inches, more than an inch below normal, and every single one of the District's 18 counties came in below average. Ten counties received less than half their typical monthly rainfall. Over the past year, 16 of 18 counties are now running a rainfall deficit, with eight counties more than 11 inches below their annual averages.

The cumulative effect on groundwater is showing up in the numbers. The Upper Floridan Aquifer, the region's primary water supply — dropped to the 11th percentile in February, putting it squarely in the low range. That's a stark reversal from just months ago, when levels were relatively healthy. Low groundwater zones are expanding in northern and western counties, and very low levels are appearing in parts of several central counties.

Statewide, the picture is just as sobering: 70% of Florida is now classified as extreme drought (D3 on the federal scale), the second-highest designation. The District responded by declaring a Modified Phase II Severe Water Shortage for portions of northeast and central Florida, which reduces landscape irrigation to one day per week and prohibits wasteful water use.

Silver Springs (a regional bellwether) is now flowing at 476 cubic feet per second, well into the low range for this time of year.

With Florida's dry season still far from over, residents are urged to follow watering restrictions and conserve wherever possible. Visit WaterLessFlorida.com for practical tips.

Celebrate Manatee Appreciation Day

March 25^th

Navigate with care – watching for signs of manatees

Protect seagrass – no anchoring – manatee’s favorite food!

Visit one of Florida’s Springs which provide winter shelter for manatees

Make a donation to Save the Manatee Club.

Thursday, March 26 - Headwaters Meet UP

Join the Headwaters Meet Up on Thursday, March 26 from 5-7 p.m. at Hell 'N Blazes Brewing in Melbourne. The St. Johns Riverkeeper team including our new Headwaters Watershed Specialist Niyati Shah, is having a happy hour at Hell 'N Blazes Brewing in Melbourne - near the headwaters of the St. Johns. We will discuss 2026 Legislative Outcomes regarding sewage sludge (AKA biosolids) and new science initiatives. We also want to hear from you. Please register at this link. The event is free with light appetizers and drinks available for purchase.

The Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting of the Jones’ Pier Interpretive Center on Saturday, March 21st. Guests are welcome to arrive starting at 2:00 PM, with the official Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at 2:30 PM. Following the ceremony, attendees are invited to enjoy guided tours and an open house at the new facility. The afternoon will conclude with the “Lagoon Tunes” music event from 4:00-6:00 PM.

IRNA is hosting free webinars on March 25 and April 7 to introduce its community science project testing private drinking wells for PFAS or "forever chemicals" linked to cancer, hormonal disruption, and other serious health effects. The project focuses on unserved areas like Wabasso, Gifford, Vero Lake Estates, Fellsmere, and the Blue Cypress Lake area, where residents on private wells have no access to the municipal monitoring programs that recently turned up PFAS contamination in nearby public water systems. Eligible participants (well-owning home or business owners not connected to municipal utilities) can attend the webinar, receive a free standardized sampling kit, and submit water for lab analysis of 55 PFAS compounds, getting their results directly along with guidance on what they mean. If you have questions about eligibility, please contact Missy@IndianRiverNA.com. RSVP for the Webinars here.