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Most people will agree that the water quality surrounding our Island has been beautiful lately. The Back Bay is clear, our beaches are relatively free of red tide, and fish swim freely in the Caloosahatchee River. But we have been lucky. Barring a couple of releases due to Tropical Storm Fay, we have been spared the onslaught of pollution-laden fresh water from Lake Okeechobee because of a light hurricane season. Many Islanders can recall the stinky, brown water and its accompanying red tide that occurred just a couple of years ago following the storm seasons of 2004 -2005.
The public outcry from that situation drew initiatives from the state government. To that end, the South Florida Water Management District, coordinating with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and Florida Department of Environmental Protection, have compiled a Caloosahatchee River Watershed Protection Plan. The draft of that plan is available online, and there will be a hearing so that the public can comment on the plan on October 27.

To help our readers understand this issue - which greatly affects our quality of life here on this Island, the Sand Paper has excerpted parts of that plan and spoke with the people responsible for it to get a feel for the public’s concern.
The plan, which is 271 pages long and includes a separate section for the St. Lucie River Watershed, states as its purpose:
“The Caloosahatchee River Watershed Protection Plan (CRWPP) has been developed in response to the recent state legislation, which authorized the Northern Everglades and Estuaries Protection Program (NEEPP). NEEPP is an expansion of the Lake Okeechobee Protection Act and strengthens protection for the Northern Everglades. It was developed in response to legislative findings that the Lake Okeechobee, Caloosahatchee River, and St. Lucie River watersheds are critical water resources of the state that have been, and are continuing to be, adversely affected from changes to hydrology and water quality. The NEEPP covers the Lake Okeechobee Watershed and the watersheds of the St. Lucie River and Caloosahatchee estuaries.”
The first chapter is an introduction to what is planned for the Caloosahatchee River Watershed.
“The primary goal of the legislation is to restore and protect surface water resources by addressing not only the water quality, but also the quantity, timing, and distribution of water to the natural system. State agencies are working in partnership with those local governments whose economy and quality of life depend on the health of Lake Okeechobee and the coastal estuaries to develop and implement comprehensive plans to restore and protect these water bodies.”
“The Northern Everglades and Estuaries Protection Program legislation requires development of watershed protection plans for the three Northern Everglades watersheds: (1) the St. Lucie River Watershed; (2) the Caloosahatchee River Watershed; and (3) the Lake Okeechobee Watershed.”
“The three main components of the watershed protection plans required under the Northern Everglades and Estuaries Protection Program legislation include: (1) a Construction Project that identifies water quality and storage projects to improve hydrology, water quality, and aquatic habitats within the watershed; (2) a Watershed Pollutant Control Program that is a multi-faceted approach to reducing pollutant loads by improving the management of pollutant sources within the watersheds; and (3) a Watershed Research and Water Quality Monitoring Program to monitor progress of the programs and the health of the estuaries.”
The plan then goes into a description of what defines the Caloosahatchee Watershed, and states that, ” the quality of water entering the Caloosahatchee Estuary directly affects the health of the system. Loss of natural habitat from riverfront and coastal development, increased urban development, construction of drainage canals, and agricultural activities have affected the timing, quantity, quality, and distribution of runoff to the river and estuary. Dry season flows have decreased due to increased water supply demand for agricultural and urban development.” This statement is accompanied by a graph showing the problems, objectives and constraints associated with the Plan.
Different criteria were weighed when determining a construction plan for the watershed, including, “identification of water quality and storage projects, known as management measures, to improve hydrology, water quality, and aquatic habitats within the watershed. The management measures were used to formulate alternatives that were evaluated for water storage benefits and total nitrogen and total phosphorus loading reductions.”
Each alternative was evaluated for nitrogen and phosphorous load removals, and water quality performance. Four alternatives were formulated, and one was chosen as the Preferred Plan: Optimize both water storage capacity and phosphorus and nitrogen nutrient load reductions.
The report then outlined the benefits expected from the implementation of increased water storage areas.
Of particular interest is the next section, which deals with freshwater releases from Lake Okeechobee. The section begins by stating, “An objective of the Calooshatachee River Watershed Protection Plan is to reduce the frequency and duration of harmful freshwater releases into the Caloosahatchee Estuary.” The Preferred Plan reduces “high flows” - releases greater than 4,500 cubic feet per second of freshwater from Lake O, by 60 percent and low flows by 98 percent. Thus, according to the report, “The Preferred Plan would result in an 84 percent improvement over current conditions.” The Plan then illustrates how these reductions will result in lower nitrogen and phosphorous loads in the Caloosahatchee Estuary (which includes Estero Bay).
The Plan then addresses the issue of pollution in its Pollutant Control Program. “The Caloosahatchee River Watershed Pollutant Control Program is designed to be a multi-faceted approach to reducing pollutant loads. The approach includes improving the management of pollutant sources within the watershed through implementation of regulations and best management practices, as well as development and implementation of improved best management practices focusing on nitrogen and phosphorus.”
Different ‘Rules’ are discussed, including the Animal Manure Application Rule, adopted in February of this year, that is designed to “control the land application of animal wastes in the Caloosahatchee River Watershed,” and the Urban Turf Fertilizer Rule, adopted in 2007, that limits the phosphorus and nitrogen content in fertilizers for urban turf and lawns.
The Plan implements an aggressive monitoring program which includes water quality, salinity, seagrass and oyster monitoring designed to “increase the ability to identify robust, scientifically based solutions to the water quality and water quantity issues in the Caloosahatchee River Watershed and allow for more accurate predictions for responding to ecological changes.”
All in all, the Plan expects to provide benefits in the form of: “providing significant nutrient load reductions and decreases in damaging discharges to the estuary; building upon existing and planned programs and projects; minimizing real estate acquisition requirements by promoting involvement of private
landowners as partners in the restoration program (best management practices, Florida Ranchlands Environmental Services Project, alternative water storage projects) and emphasizing the use of state owned lands; and emphasizing cost effective local features and includes select regional projects to complement and build upon those local features.”
The remainder of the report deals with the costs associated with the plan, timetables for construction, methods used to analyze water quality, alternative plans and public involvement. The entire plan is viewable at: https://my.sfwmd.gov/northerneverglades.
I spoke with Susan Sanders, Media Specialist for the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), and she told me that the different groups have been working on this Plan since October of 2007.
“This is all part of the Northern Everglades legislation passed by the state in 2007,” she said. “There are many components to this legislation - a multitude of projects are going on in the Northern Everglades Program, with the goal of having cleaner water by starting at the source - the water flowing into Lake Okeechobee.”
Susan told me that this legislation was passed as a direct result to the issues resulting after the 2004 -2005 hurricane season. “People said, hey let’s fix this - they became aware of bad things happening to the river as a result of those hurricanes. This is what we came up with. You have to realize that not all of the problems in the Caloosahatchee River Watershed are a result of releases from Lake O, however. That’s why the plan addresses pollution coming into the river from the surrounding areas as well - we are trying to clean up the water coming into the river from several different levels.”
The Plan has been available for public viewing online since October 1st, and there is a place where people can leave their comments. According to Project Leader Janet Starnes, as of last Friday, October 17th, there have been no comments mailed to her and as of press time no one has commented online, either. “We will accept comments online until October 31st,” she said.
Susan wanted me to let readers know that their comments will not be taken lightly. “Before we can make the final plan we have to respond to every comment and either incorporate it into the plan or explain why we didn’t. We want people to read the plan. It’s important that we get the public input.”
To that end, the SFWMD will be presenting the Caloosahatchee River Watershed Protection Plan at a meeting on Monday, October 27th, from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm at the Lower West Coast Service Center. The Center is located at 2301 McGregor Blvd in Fort Myers.
“Once we get all the comments, we will make revisions and modifications and send it to the governing board by mid December. They will have the final plan ready for the state legislature by January of 2009,” said Susan. “Of course, once we have a final plan, the next issue is going to be one of funding.”

Keri Hendry, originally published in the Island Sand Paper, Issue 402, October 24th, 2008