I'm going to give a shout to the environmental community for also delaying the flip from seagrass to phytoplankton for so long. Indian River Lagoon Act prohibited STPs from putting treated wastewater into the Lagoon. Marine Resources Council has long advocated and implemented public involvement. Stormwater Rules largely enforced to prevent new development runoff. Plenty more too, hell, citizens of Brevard voted a 1/2 cent cleanup tax! Unfortunately, too little and mostly too late. Cleanup still possible but will require genuine will of the people (fertilizer) and big $$ (wastewater) to actually accomplish. Sigh.

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add a signature since I'm here in profile anyway

That is very true. The lagoon was sliding down hill pretty bad in the 70s and 80s. None of the original big developments had any meaningful stormwater storage capacity. Look at aerials of all the pre-1990 developments and notice that it is just ditches and no storage ponds; especially the shitty developments like Port Malabar and Port St. Lucie. Huge amounts of St. Johns water was diverted to the lagoon and that diverted water was ag waste and suburban runoff from places like most of Palm Bay via Melbourne-Tillman. But the new developments had tighter and tighter rules on how much rain was supposed to hold back; had to install X-acre feet of storage for every so-many square feet of impervious surface. There we a lot of targeted septic to sewer conversions that had a good effect. My neighborhood got sewer in 1980 since we are on a sand dune that leeches easily to the lagoon. The water in the lagoon wasn't looking too bad in the mid-2000s.

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But population pressure is winning out and the old measures aren't keeping up. Need to spend a lot of money on sewer infrastructure and stormwater management and get people to quit pumping the shallow aquifer onto their lawns and fertilizing like fiends.

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My neighbor is a good example of what is happening to the river. She wants a nice St. Augustine Lawn so much. Last winter when we had a tiny cool spell her lawn browned slightly as St. Augustine grass can do when night temps drop into the 30s. She saw brown and thought it needed more water. So she ran her water multiple days per week. Wet semi-dormant grass grows nastiness and she killed her lawn with fungus. She consulted a lawn guy. He told her she over-watered. She put down sod. She killed that with excessive irrigation with well water that is becoming increasingly salty due to over-pumping. Yesterday she had her husband out putting down granular WeedNFeed on what is about 50% bare dirt. Her irrigation runs 4 days per week. If Brevard County ceased all ornamental broadcast fertilizer we would see immediate water quality improvement in the lagoon before we ever got to the super expensive fixing of sewer infrastructure.

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And she is one lonely lawn. The "Black's", "Slug-a-bug", "middleton's", "Trugreen" signs are all over the neighborhood from people getting their monthly broadcast of the Fertilizer/Herbicide/Insecticide/Fungicide cocktail.

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Bloom has collapsed from Bee Line south to at least Magruder Ave. Water is very brown but relatively clear in Rockledge with transparency being closer to 1 meter rather than the 0.01 meter it has been since August. The bloom collapse took the dissolved oxygen with it. Yesterday there were a few dead sand perch and mojarras with hog chokers and tongue fish laying on the surface looking like floating leaf litter and hanging on by a thread. More things are belly up today. Mostly smaller and demersal things that can't get out of the way but starting to see dead sheeps, spades, reds, and at least one decent sized snook down by Indian River Club this morning. If you look on the bottom in shallow water there are dead blennies, gobies, and such laying on the bottom. Of course lot of dead catfish. Paddle from Rockledge up to the Bee Line and then down to Magruder and back to home street this morning. There were scattered dead fish throughout but definitely most death was between SR520 and Magruder. Not sure what things are like down toward Pineda; haven't been there in awhile.

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Edited: 11/28/2020 at 09:41 AM by scombrid

water is green down by mathers/eau gallie causeway.

Real time sensor shows super saturated oxygen down there so the bloom is still going there. Stinky floaters today up in Cocoa. Runners in the marathon should be thankful the wind was west. Just looked. DEP station at 192 shows oxygen at about 140% saturation during the diurnal peak. The station at SR528 showed oxygen at 1.2 mg/l (<30% saturated) on Friday morning and then that station stopped reporting.

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Edited: 11/29/2020 at 11:05 AM by scombrid

water in cocoa beach was green and nasty looked horrible.

Found a link to some helpful info on how to get involved to help in Brevard County:

citizen oversight committee site

WORK COMPLETED THIS MONTH:
. Cocoa Beach Water Reclamation Facility Upgrade complete
. Osprey Wastewater Treatment Facility Upgrades bid advertised
. Plumbers - Selection Committee pre-qualified 2 contractors for direct pay from the County
. South Central F sewer force main installed with one homeowner connection application pending
. Indialantic Basin 5 Dry Retention project complete
. Stormwater Basins 1304 and 51 are finished with construction; 51 is still awaiting final walk through
. Draa Field Vegetation Harvesting project bid advertised
. Draa Field Pond Managed Aquatic Plant Systems contracted
. Osprey Pond Managed Aquatic Plant Systems contracted
. Grand Canal Muck Dredging - Dredging is active; Army Corps shortened manatee closure period
. Cocoa Beach Golf Muck Project - City contracted design consultant and is holding a kick-off meeting
. Eau Gallie Northeast Muck Project - Survey to cross Intercoastal Waterway completed for Army Corps
. Brevard Zoo built 3,120 square feet of oyster bar along in the North IRL
. University of Central Florida monitoring - live oyster densities increased 2.3 to 9.1 times at the 3 sites
monitored. At 3 planted shorelines, survival of red mangroves was 58%, 86% and 92%. Survival of S.
bakeri at 3 sites was 39%, 41% and 57%. At the more protected site, new cordgrass shoots were noted.
. Grass Clippings Outreach contract was executed for fiscal year 20/21
. Video Production - Kimberly Newton's My Lagoon Story completed
. Derelict Vessels - 2 additional derelict vessels were removed
WORK UNDERWAY THIS MONTH:
. Revenue forecasts were revised twice following arrival of July and August collections
. 24 new project funding applications were reviewed for consistency with program parameters
. Beaches Leaking Sewer Laterals - 28 repairs complete; 9 reimbursements processed to date
. Developing an online grant application portal for septic upgrades, sewer connections and repairs
. Cone Road Septic-to-Sewer Phase 2 - 46 properties connected
. Sykes Creek N Septic-to-Sewer - Task Order executed to design vacuum sewer
. Sykes Creek M & T Septic-to-Sewer - Starting property appraisals for lift station lots
. South Central C Septic-to-Sewer - Public Work reviewing revised plans for right-of-way permits
. Grant Farm Island Distributed Wastewater Treatment Project - Outreach to property owners
. Septic Upgrades - 160 applications approved; 54 in progress; 7 reimbursements completed
. Septic Load Estimation for all parcels county-wide is underway to support pro-rated grant options
. Stormwater Basins 22, 100, and 1298 - Are under construction
. More detailed survey for Kingsmill-Aurora Phase II has begun
. Huntington Pond design changes are underway
. Johns Rd & Flounder Creek engineering cost estimates have been sent to PW for review
. Thrush Drive - Baffle Box permits received
. Sherwood Park Stormwater Project - construction underway
. Cocoa Beach Phase IIb Muck Dredging - Dredging is approximately 65% complete
. Sykes Creek Phase I Muck Dredging - met with contractor about 3rd request for additional information
PRESENTATIONS THIS MONTH:
November 7 - Lagoon Loyal Event at Boater's Exchange - Brandon and Matt
November 14 - Indian River Lagoon Day at Front Street Park - Brandon
UPCOMING LAGOON SCIENCE FORUMS AND PUBLIC EVENTS:
November 14 - Indian River Lagoon Day at Front Street Park 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
December 10 - Marine Resources Council Lunch and Learn Webinar: North Atlantic Whale Update
Ongoing - Marine Resources Council 3rd-6th grade Virtual Learning
November 21 - Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge Hikes - Email Micah Thomas
February 18 & 19 - Indian River Lagoon Symposium Call for Presenters
UPCOMING VOLUNTEER PARTICIPATION OPPORTUNITIES:
Brevard Zoo - Teacher Drive Thru Adopt-A-Mangrove - November 16
Rotary Park rain garden maintenance - Email Carlos Cuevas for opportunities
Storm drain marking in Cocoa - Email Carlos Cuevas for opportunities
Storm drain marking in Melbourne - Email Nicole Broquet for opportunities
Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge Trash Cleanups Tuesday & Saturdays - Email Micah Thomas
WEBSITE AND SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:
Lagoon Loyal Outreach and Engagement Landing Page
Save Our Indian River Lagoon Website
Save Our Indian River Lagoon Facebook
Save Our Indian River Lagoon Instagram
Save Our Indian River Lagoon YouTube
FUTURE TOPICS FOR SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS:
1. Wastewater Utility Asset Management Planning - Todd Swingle
2. Re-use/Reclaimed Water - Nutrient Loading Impacts and Opportunities
3. Surface Water Remediation - Phosphorus Free, S.W.I.G., D.T.G., Chemical Tech, HABITATS
4. New Enhanced Ocean Inflow Research - Florida Tech Research Initiative
5. Completed and Ongoing Muck Research - Florida Tech Research Initiative
6. Indian River Lagoon Research News: TechCon, Shore, and Harbor Branch Symposium Highlights
7. Water Technology Conference/Industry Day - Economic Development and National Estuary Program
8. Coordinating Spoil Management with Florida Inland Navigation District
9. Pollution and Algal Bloom Mapping via Satellite Imagery Interpretation - Gybe
10. Lagoon Fish and Fisheries Research - Dr. Grant Gilmore
11. Lagoon projects managed and funded by other agencies, entities or grant programs
12. Climate change impacts to the Lagoon - Randy Parkinson
13. Low Impact Development - Local examples
14. Project Monitoring Results
15. Package Plants

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I troll 2L.com to be a better person in real life

Edited: 11/30/2020 at 11:08 AM by stokedpanda

i have been fishing the west coast (crystal river area) almost this entire year. sight fishing paradise....healthy grass, lots of oyster beds, rock structure and a minimal tide swing. i get into places others can't since i'm in a kayak. lots of tight canals and tons of places to hide from the wind. able to still fish without getting blown off the water tackling 20+.




Edited: 12/01/2020 at 03:39 PM by tertle

^^NICE^^ Ive always wanted to fish for the shallow water grouper over there this time of year

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I troll 2L.com to be a better person in real life

I grew up fishing Mason Creek out of Old Homosassa, it was a bonanza of Reds and Trouts. Never saw a snook in the 70's and early 80's, their territory must be stretching north with the warming climate.

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I was right.

Snook range is definitely expanding north. There will be episodic kills like in 2010 but average conditions are supporting a range expansion; same as with the Mangrove trees, tilapia, etc... We haven't had a real freeze since December 1989. That one was brutal. 1996 was pretty cold too. That was the last time the daily minimum temperature dropped below 27 F at the Titusville station.

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People just can't seem to figure it out. Neighbor is watering her lawn daily now, during this cool weather. She's afraid it is going to dry out. Our wells have high TDS. You know what happens to your soil when you water a lot during long periods with low humidity using water with high TDS? Other neighbor is watering 2X per week as well even though we are in the dry season. He can't understand why the chain link fence is rusting out so fast. They insist that the water is super fresh because our wells are so deep so there is no way the water is crusting the soil and killing the grass or rusting out the fence. Never mind the brown stains from the beautiful iron/CaCO3 crust on their houses or the conductivity and hardness readings that I have gotten when I checked the water. These are the people we are asking to voluntarily restrict fertilizer use to help the lagoon. Isn't going to happen. Jean puts down the granular weed'n'feed monthly even on areas that are bare dirt due to her having killed the grass with fungus and salt by overwatering during the cool season.

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Citizen oversight committee Zoom meeting 12-18-20 @0830 link to zoom meeting info.

I am going to try and be on it, Im sure it will be a snoozer but its free!

Even if you can jump and and leave it running would be nice LOL

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I troll 2L.com to be a better person in real life

Edited: 12/02/2020 at 06:35 AM by stokedpanda

Black's came to pump their 'cocktail' on neighbor lady's dirt this morning. She has irrigated 3 times this week. She complained to them last year about her grass dying. They told her she shouldn't water so much in the winter because it was messing up the soil pH and promoting fungus. But they are happy to come spray and collect the bill.

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The water off of 520 in now a Biblical red. I've never seen anything like it.

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I was right.

I saw the same thing yesterday between 528 and 520, it looked like a lifeless Georgia clay mud puddle.

It's bad. Water in Rockledge is still clear brown since the bloom collapse and oxygen crash just after Thanksgiving. Further south the bloom is raging. Water samples have returned cell counts of 3,000,000 cells per milliliter. Oxygen has been hitting >20 mg/l which is on the order of 200% saturated. That alone can stress fish as it really screws with carbon chemistry. pH is likely > 9 during peak photosynthesis in mid day. If that intense bloom collapses it will cause a fish kill worse than we saw on the 27th and 28th up in Rockledge/Cocoa.

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Thanks scom, I figured no good would come of it.

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I was right.