Our plan for the Lagoon — and how it continues to improve it

In 2016, after the big fish kill, Brevard County demanded action. The County Department of Natural Resources and multiple community groups responded with a plan for restoration, and voters overwhelmingly approved the half-cent sales tax, which began the major commitment to save the Indian River Lagoon.

Two key aspects of this effort were: The Save Our Indian River Lagoon

Project Plan (a 91-page description of how the tax money would be used to battle pollution) and The Citizens Oversight Committee (a group of 14 volunteers with varied expertise that would meet monthly to monitor progress, review new information and oversee annual Plan revisions). In other words, it set up a process to undertake projects according to the best information available and to ensure

Lagoon Straight Talk From the Brevard Indian River Lagoon Coalition

Edited by Margie E. Burke

new information was incorporated into the plan annually: A Plan — And Continue to Improve It.

Here are just a few of many examples of how this process has worked during the past seven years.

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Clams — while the Lagoon was the clam capital in the 1950s, they were overfished and most believed that clams could no longer survive in today’s polluted Lagoon. However, the University of Florida Whitney Lab found and began breeding a species that thrives and clam seeding projects are now going on throughout the Lagoon.

Vegetation harvesting — we have endless numbers of holding ponds and they all grow vegetation, which is ignored or sprayed with chemicals. Both approaches leave the pollution in the water. Recently, the Plan has been helping to fund vegetation harvesting that actually reduces pollution.

Solution

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Septic systems — the original Plan recognized these were a problem, but with some 90,000 systems and more being installed, how to be cost effective?

First the Plan sponsored a detailed analysis of which systems had the greatest impact and enacted a ban on new systems in high-impact areas. Then, it created financial assistance programs to help owners connect systems near sewer lines and to replace old inefficient systems with advanced systems in other critical locations.

All along, the idea was to follow a Plan and Continue to Improve It. It’s working!

Check out the Plan: brevardfl.gov/ SaveOurLagoon/ProjectPlan and also helpthelagoon.org/ and facebook.com/ BIRLC to stay informed. SL

For more about our piece of paradise — the Indian River Lagoon, go to HelpTheLagoon.org, facebook. com/BIRLC/ and twitter.com/ HelpTheLagoon.