September Water News

CWC
10 minutes ago
4 min read

County Approves Anchoring Limitation Area Ordinance

The Indian River County Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved the Anchoring Limitation Area (ALA) Ordinance on August 19, marking a big step forward in addressing long-term anchoring issues in our local waters.

During the meeting, County Commissioners acknowledged the instrumental role of the Clean Water Coalition (CWC) in advancing this initiative. The board also recognized Melissa Meisenberg who received our August "Lagoon Champion" award for contributions to the effort and other lagoon projects. Melissa was further honored for her work at the September 9 County Commission meeting. You can read more about her good work in this press release from the county.

The next phase involves design and permitting work that will be handled jointly by County staff and a specialized Coastal Engineering firm. The financial arrangement splits project costs evenly between the County and City at 50/50, while the City will take responsibility for ongoing maintenance and enforcement.

According to local enforcement officials, the ordinance addresses a pressing need. Of the approximately 19 vessels currently anchored in ALA waters, an estimated 15 would potentially be subject to enforcement action when the provisions go into effect. The area has also seen progress in addressing derelict vessels, with numbers reduced to two remaining vessels that were approved for removal on September 9th.

The ALA represents a collaborative approach to managing anchoring in sensitive waterways and the CWC would like to thank the county and city of Vero Beach for working with us and taking our concerns seriously.

Florida's Biosolids Crisis:Build Processing Plants orFace Rural Contamination

Florida faces an infrastructure crisis that threatens to contaminate rural areas and waterways statewide. New strict biosolids regulations, effective since 2021, require land application rates based on phosphorus concentrations as well as nitrogen. For many existing operations, this creates dramatic reductions in how much biosolid can be applied per acre.

For example, H&H Liquid Sludge contracts with Wastewater Treatment Facilities in South Florida to haul and land-apply their biosolids on rural lands. There are a limited number of sites in Central Florida. Recently, one of the sites, Deseret Ranch Properties, made a decision to stop allowing biosolids due to concerns about PFAS/PFOS contamination. Ranchers in Texas have been forced to kill their cattle due to contamination. When H&H Sludge haulers reported to the State that they had nowhere to put the waste, the State granted the company an exemption to the law, allowing for much higher concentrations at existing sites. This action is increasing the transfer of responsibility for the nutrient loading from South Florida to the Counties to the north. A study has been done by The Balmoral Group that indicates the clean costs to the upper St Johns River will cost over $1 Billion.

The CWC calls on Florida to immediately invest in biosolids processing facilities (like the one proposed in Indiantown—see our article in last month’s CWC Newsletter) or face widespread water contamination through excessive land application or inadequate landfill disposal.

While we’re running out of time for an environmentally sustainable solution, Florida surely is not running out of new residents moving to Florida.

Tem Fontaine with Coastal Tech is the project engineer of the City’s new Marina stormwater system. He provided much of the information in the article below.

The redevelopment of the City’s Municipal Marina Dry Storage Building is an excellent example of how redevelopment of existing sites benefit the water quality of the Indian River Lagoon. Previously, stormwater was managed by collecting and transporting the water as quickly as possible to the lagoon to prevent flooding. The FDEP Rules now require new development or redevelopment of existing sites to incorporate stormwater systems that remove pollutants before discharging to the Lagoon. The City of Vero Beach has requirements that exceed the requirements of the FDEP.

The prior stormwater system at the City’s Dry Storage site allowed the stormwater to flow from the decking structure directly into the lagoon. The new stormwater system includes dry ponds and underground stormwater chambers to provide the water quality and quantity treatment. It will capture stormwater runoff from the building, and will direct the stormwater from the decking structure into inlets that are connected to the stormwater chambers and dry ponds. The stormwater will no longer flow directly into the lagoon.

CCA Florida partnered with Indian River County and the Florida Department of Transportation to repurpose 3,500 tons of the concrete material that will be removed from the Sebastian Inlet bridge replacement project. The concrete materials will be deployed on five nearby artificial reefs sites approximately 5 miles south of Sebastian Inlet. CCA Florida presented a check in the amount of $110,000 to the Indian River County Commission to offset the $219,000 total cost of this artificial reef project. Demolition of the bridge is scheduled to begin next year and the reefs will be deployed in approximately two years.

Learn how the Titusville Causeway Multi-trophic Shoreline Restoration project is working to protect an important horseshoe crab nesting area in Titusville using a combination of wave attenuation devices (WADs) and natural plantings.

The Indian River Lagoon Chronicles:

A Narrative Paddle Adventure Through the History

and Natural History of Florida's Indian River Lagoon

by John Kumiski

On December 1, 2013, five paddlers launched their vessels at JB's Fish Camp in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Their destination? Jupiter, Florida, 160 miles distant. During their nineteen-day voyage they met birds, snails, manatees, and mangroves, dolphins, scientists, restaurateurs, and seagrasses, mosquitoes, other paddlers, the ghost of Henry Flagler, and much more. Into their passage is woven the history of the people who lived along the lagoon's banks- Indians, soldiers, settlers, agriculturalists, dredgers, fishermen, treasure hunters, entrepreneurs, and many others. Join their journey between the covers of this book!