Water and Lagoon Committee

The problem with Septics in Florida is that the water table is high and there is little separation between the drainfield and water table. Also, older tanks can deteriorate and leak allowing huge levels of nutrient pollution to enter the ground water and flow to the lagoon. This causes algae blooms which prevent light from reaching seagrass, causing their decline. Conversion of septic to sewer is very expensive, especially a gravity system, but must be done here in IRC and is a major objective of our Water & Lagoon Committee.

Contained in stormwater because excess can runoff the land. Fertilizer is a big concern. Made up of mostly Nitrogen and Phosphorus, both big polluters in our water, the County and its municipalities have a ban on application of fertilizer in the summer (from June 1 – Sept. 30) and a decent ordinance approved in 2014, which probably needs updating. Sadly, there has not been a lot of enforcement of the ordinance, but there has been some good attempts at education in which the IRNA has participated.

As our land use page says, annexations are not inherently bad. However, they must be controlled. The City of Sebastian is not dealing with the annexation of the Graves Bros. property in a good way. When you annex, you have the land owner over a barrel. You can get all sorts of concessions on density, green space, and more. Sebastian and the Graves Bros. barely had an annexation agreement last time they went against the will of the people to annex this property. Now it has returned and is twice the size. Sebastian needs to take more care than they did last time, or it could end in a similar fashion.

 Glyphosate (a component of Round Up) has been listed as a carcinogen. Use of Roundup or other herbicide (as directed) is not the problem. Some of our invasive plants can only easily be killed by such herbicides. The problem is the over-use of the poison by applicators and governments that want cheap weed control versus mechanical removal. It is a lot easier to spray canal walls than to remove the plant growth mechanically.

This is a great question answered in a short book by a former chair of IRNA’s Water & Lagoon Committee, Debby Ecker. The book is a little older, but it is highly recommended reading. Click here to access it.

The STEP stands for Septic Tank Effluent Pump System. The STEP System is an affordable hybrid sewer system available in the City of Vero Beach which includes a high grade septic tank and a pump. Sewage is conveyed by gravity to the tank through your building plumbing line. Liquid waste is pumped under pressure to the public sewer system. Solid waste remains in the STEP tank where it naturally degrades and is eventually pumped out.

Grass/sod is killing Florida. We should not have nearly as much as we do here, people love their grassy lawn, the American dream, etc. It is really bad for Florida, and we should be landscaping with native plants and not imported sod. (Sod requires a TON of water, compared to native plants, and requires application of fertilizer and herbicides, both detrimental to our environment.) There are some really interesting and beautiful things you can do to your yard which will help the lagoon.

.Development is consuming our open space and impacting our water, our wildlife, and our quality of life. Water quality problems have only been increasing as we build more and more. Preserving natural lands for future generations is a responsibility of every generation. For only $42.00 a year, less than $4 a month to the average residence, Indian River County can protect the lands that make our community desirable by supporting the $50m land acquisition bond. This will be on the November 8, 2022 ballot

Reuse water is a double edged sword. It sounds great to use the liquid byproduct of sewage treatment as irrigation water. However, because it is rich in Nitrogen (and other things, like some forever chemicals) the excess nitrogen and those other chemicals often ends up in the lagoon. It is a good solution for now, but may need to be re-addressed in the future. If you have reuse water at your house, you do not generally need to fertilize.

Low impact development (LID) is an approach to land development that uses various land planning, design and construction practices to simultaneously conserve and protect natural resource systems while reducing infrastructure costs. We are big proponents of this and work with our Land Use Committee on it.

Stormwater is Not just rain water!  It is the transport system of pollution to our lagoon. It can contain: gasoline, oil, brake dust, cigarette butts, trash, animal waste, fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides, soil, decaying plants and leaves. Stormwater management is essential to prevent flooding and reduce pollution. Excess rainwater or ‘stormwater runoff’ generally drains into a series of storm drains, depressions, swales, ditches, ponds, lakes, and canals. In Indian River County many of these waterways lead into three very large Relief Canals that discharge directly into the Indian River Lagoon.

The Vero Beach Marina needs to be modernized. Much of its infrastructure is ancient and failing. We are mostly concerned with environmental issues regarding the Marina project, especially with the proposed dredging. We encouraged the city to listen to the neighborhood's concerns and not expand the Marina more than it needs to be.

Where has all the Seagrass Gone? This is causing a huge problem for our marine life, especially for the manatee which feeds on sea grass. Advocating for preventing pollution that causes algal blooms is an IRNA mission. We made a video with a local folk singer about the problem here.

Hydrology is the branch of science concerned with the properties of the earth's water; especially its movement in relation to land. We have not had a hydrologic study in Indian River County since 1988. St. Johns River Water Management District is recently completed a modeling study, which we found lacking. We need to know the status of our aquifer is so we can better plan and prepare for future water supply. This will be a long term issue for us, and hopefully we'll have a solution before water becomes as scarce here as in other parts of the country.

Put simply, Sustainable growth is development that meets the needs of the present without sacrificing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.