Water quality targeted by Lee 20/20 land buys and fertilizer education campaign

As Southwest Florida braces for its next rainy season, Lee County is buying more coastal land for its preservation program and launching a campaign to reduce use of fertilizer that encourages spread of red tide and blue-green algae.

It's part of a strategy of providing more and better protection for the region's prized bodies of water. 

Two large parcels on Pine Island, one in Bokeelia, another near mid-island in St. James City, will be preserved for conservation under the county's 20/20 program. Meanwhile, the county is preparing an extensive ad campaign intended to spread the word about using fertilizer near rivers, lakes and wetlands.

Commissioners on Tuesday approved buying a three-lot parcel west of Stringfellow Road in St. James City for $1.1 million and a smaller piece of land just west of the Alden Pines golf course community in Bokeelia for $235,000.

More:Brevard County to require posting of fertilizer use rules at stores as way to help lagoon

The St. James City land that will be added to the county portfolio includes 93 acres with access from Maria Drive on the south side of Stringfellow. Maria Drive eventually leads to a commercial wharf on the shore. 

“It consists of freshwater wetlands, a freshwater pond, native pine flatwoods, oak hammock and a mangrove forest/salt marsh," said Robert Clemens, director of county lands.

Calusa Land Trust will provide a $5,000 contribution to the purchase price, while the Greater Pine Island Civic Association will contribute $250.

More:Following fertilizer leads to farms, golf courses, landscaping amid algae blooms

Robert Ballard, president of the trust, and a third-generation Pine Island resident, urged approval.

"I am encouraging you people to support this purchase," Ballard said.  "It will kind of preserve the pines on Pine Island so we will still be Pine Island."

North of the St. James City site, in Bokeelia, the county will add 182 acres that is close to the 189-acre Carter Preserve, which the county bought in 2008. The price for the parcel $235,000.

It is also near property owned by the Calusa Land Trust, creating some 878 contiguous acres of conservation land at the Pine Island shoreline. 

More:Septic leaks, fertilizer run-off targets of Lee water clean-up efforts

Commissioners also earmarked $259,000 for a fertilizer education and outreach program to convince landscapers and homeowners to follow the county ordinance on use of fertilizer in rainy season.

A county ordinance, that took effect 10 years ago next Monday, regulates the use of fertilizers with nitrogen or phosphorus by landscaping crews in the unincorporated county. Municipal ordinances are in effect in Cape Coral, Sanibel and Fort Myers Beach.

Fertilizer runoff in the rainy season feeds nutrients to blue-green algae and red tide blooms.

On the heels of the crisis on the region's waterways last summer and fall, the county wants to remind residents that it is illegal to contribute to the runoff of nutrients that give life to the slimy algae that infected the water.

The educational campaign is aimed at limiting the concentration of the chemicals that are used and sets a buffer zone around bodies of water and wetlands. 

More:Lee County Commission approves purchase of 660 acres for 20/20 conservation

It also bans blowing or dumping grass clippings on roads, stormwater drains and close to bodies of water.

Ronald Ottolini, the county's natural resources director, said the money will fund a "gorilla marketing campaign," to get the message out concerning the threat fertilizer poses.

"We want to educate the community about the best practices for fertilizer use," Ottolini said. "We've added a website that will provide more detail in the proper use of fertilizer as well as a direct mail campaign."

Learning about the dangers of the misuse of fertilizers will also become part of youth programs in the county, both at the county summer camp and the programs at the IMAG History and Science Center, he said.

The Lee fertilizer ordinance prohibits application of fertilizers containing nitrogen or phosphorus to turf or "landscape plants" from June 1 through Sept. 10.