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A key step in Tampa Bays recovery was the adoption of the Grizzle-Figg bill, which required advanced wastewater treatment of all discharges into state waters. This forced municipalities to upgrade their sewer -treatment plants and drainage canals It also gave birth to the Tampa Bay Nitrogen Management Consortium, which required the cooperation of local government, regulatory agencies, phosphate companies, agricultural or industrial interests and even electric utilities. Much of this was brought about as the result of research published in 1971 by Dr. John H. Ryther of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, who left Cape Cod temporarily in 1981 to continue his aquaculture research at the Division of Applied Biology at Florida Atlantic Uni- versity'sHarborBranch Oceanographic Institute (HBOI) in Fort Pierce. I was fortunate enough to spend some valuable time with Dr. Brian LaPointe ofFAU/HBOI and learn the inside story of what is really going on in our Lagoon. 11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 1 1 1 11111111111111111111 Who is Dr. Brian Lapointe? Dr. Brian Lapointe graduated from Palm Beach High School in West Palm Beach in 1969. He obtained a BS in Biology from Boston University in 1973. He traveled to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Falmouth, MA and spent four years working for Dr. Ryther. After earning his MS in En- vironmental Engineering from Florida in '79 and a Ph.D. in Marine Biology from the USF ('82), he was offered a job at Harbor Branch by Ryther in 1982 - just as Ryther was retiring. Dr. Lapointe has authored over 80 articles in sdentificjournals and was a contributing author to the book Clean Coastal Waters: Understanding and Reducing Nutrient Pollution published by the National Academy of Sciences. He's currently a Senior Scientist with FAU's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution. 1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 "My thesis at USF was on gracilaria (red drift algae), if that clarifies anything,"joked Dr. Lapointe as he explained his forty years of extensive experience in water quality is- sues around South Florida. "The problem was so severe in Tampa Bay during the los and early 8os that the entire bay area reeked of rotting seaweed. In some areas it was piled seven feet thick on the shores " Dr. Lapointe warns gracilaria can double its mass in just a single week and it's growing rapidly in the Indian River Lagoon. So while much of the focus of late has been on the issues surrounding the Okeechobee discharge that increased algae bloom problems and created unhealthy bacteria counts in St. Lucie and Martin counties, Lapointe sees a distressed ecosystem from Volusia County all the way down to West Palm Beach. "The Indian River Lagoon is a big place," says Lapointe, "so the problems change as you move north to south. Each area has its own unique issues." When the 2011 algae blooms began annihilating the seagrass beds in Indian River County, Lapointe and other researchers from HB01 began studying septic system discharges from properties bordering the river. "We lost 110 manatees in the northern part of the Lagoon. So what started out as research of septic tank dis- charges quickly turned into measuring ground water flows into creeks, which then fed into the lagoon," explained Lapointe. "We began tracking stable nitrogen isotopes and studied the ratio of those isotopes. Sewage has a very enriched stable nitrogen isotope ratio and red drift algae thrives in it." By studying the concentration of nutrients in graci- laria samples, HBOI researchers could pinpoint where those nutrients were originating. Algae bloom samples could also reveal the source of nitrogen it was feeding on. "This value has been reported by many scientists over the years - not just by us," Dr. Lapointe says. "We found very significant nitrogen build-tup in northern 1RL Part of the problem with the Indian River Lagoon is there just aren't enough flush points." Lapointe explained that they monitor twenty different test sites from Shiloh, on the northem end of the Indian River Lagoon, down to the St. Lucie Inlet. "We could find no scientific evidence of fertilizer runoff causing high nutrient content," he disclosed. "So what we were left with was over 1oo,oao septic tanks in Brevard County and another 37,000 in Indian River County." These septic systems are all clustered around the length of the Lagoon and many of these systems (empha- sis on many) are no longer up to code. This can lead to significant nitrogen enrichment -in the same concentra- tions often found in gracilaria samples. "We find dense areas of gracilaria around bird estu- aries due to the high concentration of bird droppings," Brian LaPointe and assistant Laura Herren - researchers at FAU's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in Fort Pierce - collect water samples along the northern end of the Indian River Lagoon at Banana River. This area has been a hot spot for manatee mortality. Photo courtesy of FAU HBOI. Lapointe added. "So it stands to reason that when you find an abundance of the same red drift algae near clusters of island homes, there must be concentrated nutrients present." (Note: This is a very serious article, so in laymen's terms: red drift algae like to eat poop) Above: Gracilaria, or red drift algae, thrives in areas where high concentrations of nutrients are present. Most often found near bird sanctuaries or in areas where raw sewage is present, it can be a good indicator of the presence of pollutants. Lapointe explained that septic tanks are a very serious issue that needs to be addressed bygovemment agencies, because the problem exists up and down the entire Indian River Lagoon. "Counties need to regulate septic systems across the board," he urged. "We discovered that fertilizers are mostly incorporated into plant roots and turf. Only io% of nutrients from fertilizers are migrating into the canals. On the other hand, sewage is being released into the ground water and that leaches directly into the IRL." In other words, stop blaming your local golf course or overly enthusiastic green thumb neighbor with the perfectly landscaped yardfor that green algae you see in the Lagoon. They only account for about one-tenth of the problem. "Blaming landscapers and golf courses is the easiest path to take, but we need to cut back on all forms of hu- man -produced nutrient releases," Dr. Lapointe explained. "We'll continue to backslide in our efforts if we keep pur- suing the same avenue, because it's truly a dead end." Lapointe added that science should to be integrated into new policies similar to what was done in Tampa Bay. "The problem is that the solutions are too narrowly focused," he said. Tampa Bay is one of the most suc- cessful urcessful programs we've seen. The entire bay had been pronounced dead by the local and national media. The stench of rotting gracilaria made it impossible to enjoy being outside. It was complete eutrophication of the entire estuary." Lagoon, continued on page 6 Issue 32 Vero's Voice 3