(CityofCapeCanaveral.org, Feb. 21, 2021) “At the February 16, 2021 City Council Meeting, Resolution 2021-03 unanimously passed, which henceforth bans all applications of glyphosate-based herbicides in favor of less impactful non-glyphosate alternatives at all City of Cape Canaveral-owned facilities and properties by both Staff and contractors. This amounts to about 50 acres of land area, much of…
(Savethemanatee.org, Patrick Rose, Feb. 17, 2021) This article states that massive losses in seagrass coverage resulted in manatee deaths the Indian River Lagoon. The Fish and Wildlife federally managed Manatee Recovery Program is underfunded and neglected, leaving manatees and manatee habitat to suffer the effects of habitat overdevelopment. This resulted in staffing reductions and no…
(HometownNewsBrevard.com, Wendy Scheuring, Feb. 12, 2021) Baffle boxes are underground structures made up of chambers that trap debris, trash, and other pollutants from storm water that flows off of streets and into storm drains after heavy rains. They “remove between 60-75% of nitrogen and phosphorus out of the water column, depending on the site location.”…
(News.fit.edu, Ryan Randall, Feb. 15, 2021) What are the possible effects of enhanced seawater exchange between the IRL and coastal ocean? Florida Tech’s Restore Lagoon Inflow research project is a multi- year study funded by the State of Florida to answer this question and others. The project will provide important data analysis to help local…
(News-press.com, Chad Gillis, Feb. 10, 2021) Septic tank conversion will help water quality. Damaging nutrients, nitrogen and phosphorous, have greatly polluted Florida waterways over the years. These nutrients cause blue-green algae blooms. The blooms cause aquatic life and grasses to die. Water runoff containing these damaging nutrients from farms and urban areas flow into the…
(TCPalm.com, Max Chesnes, Feb. 5, 2021) The Marine Resources Council published this year’s Indian River Lagoon report card. The report describes both water and habitat quality as compared to previous years. The results showed that the seagrass habitat quality was “extremely poor”, and “attributed much of the problem to the Lake Okeechobee discharges in 2016”. …
(TCPALM, R. Barker, Jan. 21, 2021, ) This opinion piece written by Richard Baker, a University of Florida professor emeritus and president of the Pelican Island Audubon Society, talks about state legislatures “calling for reductions in environmental spending at a time when we need more, not less, funding”. He continues with concern on how the…
(BIRLC, January 23, 2021) This Saturday, the planting began of the Gail Meredith Urban Forest at Satellite Beach City Hall. Gail was a Satellite Beach resident who passed away unexpectedly during a hurricane in 2019. She was a longtime board member of the Brevard Indian River Lagoon Coalition, volunteer with Friends of the Archie Carr…
(StJohnsRiverkeeper.org, Jan. 14, 2021) Earthjustice is a nonprofit public interest environmental law organization representing the Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, the Sierra Club, the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, the Florida Wildlife Federation, Miami Waterkeeper, and St. Johns Riverkeeper in the case filed Jan. 14, 2021 in the U.S. District Court for the District…
(SpaceCoastDaily.com, Dec. 19, 2020) The Save Our Indian River Lagoon Program (SOIRL), funded by the voter-approved half-cent sales tax initiative, has initiated projects at combating the major sources of water pollution. Muck, storm water, overuse of fertilizers, failing septic systems all contribute to the demise of the Indian River Lagoon. The SOIRL program is also…
