Despite strong talk, Tallahassee has a lot more to do for Indian River Lagoon

MJ Waters

As we approach the beginning of the 2020 Florida legislative session in January, the Indian River Lagoon remains at risk, despite strong talk in Tallahassee. 

The critical factors in all of this are a serious commitment to statewide funding and ensuring enforcement of environmental regulations and tight standards. Long-term, dedicated funding is essential to repair 50 years of pollution of all the state’s waters: from springs to the Everglades to rivers, coastal shorelines and our own Indian River Lagoon.

Brevard County state Sen. Debbie Mayfield and Rep. Randy Fine have re-filed bills to help the lagoon that failed in the 2019 session. 

Scenes at Castaways Point Park in Palm Bay on the Indian River Lagoon.

And with 1,000 new residents in Florida every day, we need innovative breakthrough technology to eliminate the products of wastewater treatment, known as biosolids, rather than move them to farms and ranches. These technologies exist and Florida is the perfect place for a demonstration project, which could be funded through the Department of Environmental Protection as a private-public partnership.

Last month, Gov. Ron DeSantis introduced a 2020 legislative package to address wastewater discharges, spreading of biosolids, septic tank leaks, runoff pollution and agriculture practices. These are areas that need addressing, but what’s needed is the fine print: specific standards, strict enforcement, accountability, frequent monitoring, system inspections and serious holistic measures that address the stew of problems degrading most of Florida’s waters.

Coalitions in Brevard and Indian River counties recently presented specific recommendations to state leaders outlining regulatory and legal steps essential to healing our waters statewide, along with potential funding sources. The success or failure of any legislation will come from the fine print.

Without detailed laws, the pollution of our waters will continue to harm our economy, our health and the quality of life people moved here for.

Marilyn Waters

We recommend:

  • Requiring any new or replacement septic systems to be "advanced treatment" to remove more than 65% of nitrogen, and require inspections of existing systems every five years.
  • Utilities for wastewater treatment must have asset management plans to ensure systems are maintained and plan for future capacity needs. No more “fix it when it breaks” strategies.
  • Sewage spills must be penalized with requirements to make needed repairs within a narrow time frame and to specific standards. Any financial penalty must be 100% allocated to fix the problem. 
  • Prohibiting disposal of sewage sludge (biosolids) on farm and ranch lands within the watersheds of Florida’s rivers and significant water bodies.
  • Enforcing no-discharge laws to prevent boaters from dumping raw sewage into waterways.
  • Restoring funding for our water management districts to pre-2000 levels would generate close to $900 million per year when matched by cities and counties.
  • The Land Acquisition Trust Fund, created by voters in 2014, allocated monies for water conservation; these funds should be properly used by the state.
  • A water withdrawal fee would encourage conservation of the state’s drinking water and be evenly spread among all users. Our history of playing whack-a-mole funding leaves communities without ways to pay for the long-term plans essential to solving their polluted waters.

This crisis demands bold, transformational leadership and support of all our citizens. The problems of 50 years of inaction will be magnified by the 1,000 people moving to Florida each day.

Action is needed now.

MJ Waters is chair of the Brevard Indian River Lagoon Coalition.