The City of Marco Island’s Waterways Advisory Committee met on Friday, December 16 for their final gathering before the end of 2021 and ushering in 2022. Although the agenda was short, the subject matter has had a life of its own over the last several years.
Water quality, on Marco and throughout the entire State of Florida, is a subject matter that has received considerable attention over the last decade. The issues go far beyond just the those concerning the Everglades Restoration Project. They encompass a wide variety of topics that for decades ahead will seriously impact the state and create “quality of life” issues.
Recently, the City of Marco Island received a comprehensive water quality report for the island. The city had commissioned Environmental Research and Design (ERD) to conduct a review of water quality concerns. Earlier this year, the report was delivered to the city by Dr. Harvey Harper, who heads ERD.
Marco’s many canals, which were originally dredged out by the Deltona Corporation, have been impacted over the five decades since the island’s first new homes and condominiums were built. Over the years, residents’ desire to see green lawns and flowering landscaping has impacted the water quality, Harper points out in his almost 500-page report.
Harper’s report addresses the fact that something needs to be done to improve the water quality, and points out that Marco Island is not alone in facing these challenges. Watering lawns too much, with water that contains too many chemicals, as well as not doing enough to keep those nutrient laden waters from reaching the sensitive waterways around the island has been a problem throughout Southwest Florida.
Stormwater runoff is an issue, polluting canals with high nutrient flows.
City council recently referred the report to the Waterways Advisory Committee for their input about what should be prioritized as the city develops a plan to address these concerns moving forward.
As part of that process, the committee entertained a position paper from Clean Marco Waters, LLC. This organization of three citizen advocates took the Harper Report and developed five priorities for immediate action, all of which were included in the consultant’s report.
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Create a municipal stormwater utility taxing district for all of Marco Island. This would serve to elevate the importance of clean water to a separate city department, reporting to the city manager. This would allow the hiring of additional staff whose priority would be concentrated on water quality. The creation of the utility would place the city in a better position to access state and federal funding for improvements.
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Improve the utility plant with an eye to reducing the nutrients in the re-use water. Additional utilization of the deep injection wells during the rainy season, rather than using reuse when it is not needed.
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Proposing significant reduction in application of fertilizers and herbicides combined with a stricter enforcement policy. They are also proposing the establishment of target goals for reductions in the use of fertilizers by specific numbers and years.
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Improve public education outreach and promote the changes being advocated locally to the regional level in Collier County. Encourage the elimination of septic systems in adjoining communities.
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Continue water quality monitoring and expand test sites. Retain outside professional monitoring of those test results.
The advisory board will take into consideration these suggestions, as well as others, and fabricate a formal presentation for the Marco Island City Council at one of its February 2022 meetings.
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Originally Appeared Here