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The water is then channeled through several runnels that have been heavily populated with oysters - a car- bon -hungry shellfish. Oysters can be used to biologically treat polluted water without the need of more costly purification methods. Fact: A single adult oyster can filter up to so -6o gallons of water per day. Now envision thousands of these shellfish lining the bottom of each these runnels. With all of those nutrients being processed, Commis- sioner Davis jokes we've got some pretty fat, happy oysters sitting at the bottom of North Relief Canal. Davis also points out that the county can quantify the nutrients in the water that comes into the canal and the much -cleaner water that goes back out into the lagoon. "We have proof that this system is working beyond expectations. And on top of that, we're taking care of all of the brine," Davis adds. "People don't realize how big of a deal that is. In fact, the state won't let you dump brine just anywhere these dans. The City of Vero Beach spent S8 million on deep well injectors to shoot the brine down to the Florida Aquifer," says Davis. The effort doesn't simply start and end at the Spoonbill Marsh; there are two more relief canals. The South Relief Canal uses an "algae scrubber," which accomplishes exactlywhat the name implies; runoff from local prop- erties that contain nitrogen, potassium or phosphorous promote the blooming of algae. When the algae arrives at the processing area, it is trapped, removed and could be resold as bio -fuel or livestock feed. "And we're not stopping here," says Davis, "We're building another turf scrubber near South County Park, so we'll have two scrubbers in south Indian River County." The Central Canal or Main ReliefCanal is a skimmer, which removes trash and organics from the runoff water before allowing it to flow through to the lagoon. "The point I'm trying to make with all of this is we (county commissioners) took it on the chin because we didn't pass a fertilizer ordinance last year. I'd wager what this county has done to preserve and enhance the lagoon against anybody else. What we've accomplished as a community to protect our lagoon is far beyond what most have done." Finger Pointing Gone Wild Commissioner Davis believes that the commissioners are taking the blame for inaction in passing the State Model Ordinance. In fact, one local columnist reported that Commissioner Bob So- lari led the charge to reject the ordinance in August of 2012. Solari had contended that a fertilizer ordinance would be ineffective, unenforceable, and yet another instance of government control. "We thought it was more important to do something positive for the Lagoon in- stead of making criminals out of guys who take good care of theiryards," Solari explains. "I requested and reviewed 30o pages of back-up from the city and found that not one of the questions that needed to be answered had even been addressed." Recreational activities on the lagoon generate over a billion in economic activity each year. Pho:o by Allison McNeal Solari saw no mandate to monitor the nutrient content of the Lagoon, no solutions and no way to enforce any part of the ordinance. "1 truly believe more and more people will follow our guidelines through awareness and education," Solari said. "If people are informed, they'll make the right decisions. There's no need to micro -manage our residents." 11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 Just an FYI: Commissioner Solari removed all of the grass from his yard and replaced it with vegetation and potted plants that require less watering. '111 never use another bag offertilizer unless it's going into my potted plants," he said. "The Lagoon problem wasn't the fault of any one com- missioner or the entire county commission as a whole," explains Davis. "The problem was enforcement. Were we going to fine aguywhowants to fertilize his banana tree in August? There wouldn't have been any citations written for overuse of nutrients, because who was supposed to be enforcing these rules? To blame it all on fertilizer, I don't buy that. People were fertilizing ioyears ago when the Lagoon was healthy." A Little Topography Never Hurts Looking at a map of the county, US 1 runs north to south along the "Atlantic Ridge." Interstate I-93 is another protective ridge, which is called the "10 -Mile Ridge." Wa- ter collects between these two ridges and is meant to run north near Jacksonville to the Upper St. John's Basin. The water that pools on the east side of the Atlantic Ridge (US 1) runs to the Lagoon through tributaries and. creeks that create the brackish brown wateryou see in the Wa- terway. When the droughts of the late gos through 2010 kept the runoff minimized, the Lagoon flourished with spreading seagrass, plenty of marine life and cleaner, more oxygenated water. The addition of the second scrubber at South Relief near South Vero Park will help relieve more of the algae and nutrients that may have entered the Lagoon. And with the recent passing of the State Model Ordi- nance by the IRCC, steps have been taken to rectify our distressed Lagoon, but who will be enforcing these new restrictions? Who will be charged with educating local golf courses, landscapers and property manage - County Commissioner Bob Solari at the water treatmen facility. Photo ment companies about how much fertilizer they can use and what time of year they can be used? "1 don't want anybody to think we're done, either," says Wesley Davis. "We're not saying, 'Okay, we're done leave us alone.' For example, I'd like to place a bunch of oysters down at the DOT outflow off US -I near Oslo Road and let them clean that water before it reaches the Lagoon." BREAKING NEWS: A New Culprit? O'er the past few weeks, Brian LaPointe and assis- tant Laura Herren - two researchers with Florida Atlantic University's Harbor Branch Oceanograph- ic Institute in Fort Pierce - have been studying seaweed along the Indian River Lagoon. Why? Because over 110 manatees have died in our region over the pastyear due to eating gracilaria -also known as red drift algae. Local biologists claim that algae blooms that choke off seagrass have reduced the mammal's usual diet, thus manatees have been forced to consume the gracilaria instead. While many are blaming fertilizers for transforming the Lagoon from a sanctuary of delicious seagrass to a brackish pool of eco -destructive death, LaPointe suspects thousands of septic tanks buried along the barrier islands' sandy terra firma - as well as along the banks of the La- goon - may also be playing a significant role. He plans to substantiate his theory by examining the nitrogen locked within the seaweed. "Gracilaria can double its biomass in just 2-3 days," LaPointe explained. "It's very hard for seagrass to compete with that." Though nitrogen and phosphorus may have triggered too much algae bloom, creating cloudy brownish water, dead algae depletes even more oxygen in the water, which smothers marine life as well. Red drift algae will suffocate seagrass in nitrogen -rich waters and, as Lapointe points out, it seems to grow densest near neighborhoods with septic or sewage problems. A classic example of this is how gracilaria thrives near heavily populated bird sanctuaries as it feeds off the birds' fecal waste. Back at the North Relief Canal, Commissioner Wesley Davis remains optimistic. "I'm proud of this project," Davis beams. "A fertilizer ordinance is one thing, but this North Relief Project" is something thatworks verywell and we're very proud of it!" It will be interesting to review the results of LaPointe's research. Stay tuned! Issue 31 Vero's Voice 3 `?? 71