Guest Commentary
SANIBEL-CAPTIVA CONSERVATION FOUNDATION
public. Although our beautiful island isn’t recovered, red tide is stymying our ability to bring back the tourism economy that many businesses on Sanibel and Captiva depend on. Even with the completion of Everglades restoration, a healthy balance between Lake Okeechobee levels, ecology, and safety, and the environmental effects of flows to the northern estuaries is not always possible. Achieving that balance is increasingly at the mercy of the weather and a changing climate, requiring an urgent response. Water managers must send more water south to the Everglades where it is needed, and more water storage and treatment in the Caloosahatchee watershed are absolutely necessary to buffer periods of high and low flows and reduce nutrient loading. Our islands’ economy and our future depend upon it. Leah Reidenbach is a research and policy associate for the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation. Founded in 1967, the SCCF's mission is to protect and care for Southwest Florida’s coastal ecosystems. For more information, visit www.sccf.org.
Amendments From page 4 age and alter vegetation removal, but variances would still be available to prevent hardship on a case-by-case basis. Not everyone agreed with what COTI was trying to accomplish. Some said state law — the Growth Management Act — gave Sanibel all the protection that it needed from over-development. As it turned out, the state Legislature repealed
the Growth Management Act and abolished the agency that was responsible for its administration in 2011. When the campaigning was over, the citizens of Sanibel showed that they wanted to control their own destiny by approving the People’s Choice charter amendments in March of 2005. Those amendments today still provide
the legal underpinning for the city's postdisaster build-back and resort redevelopment ordinances. Older condos have the means to rebuild and the island maintains its special status as a sanctuary haven for wildlife and residents. Larry Schopp is president of the Committee of the Islands. COTI is a
Florida not-for-profit corporation dedicated to the continuity of good local government, protection of the environment and preservation of the small town character of the barrier island community. For more information, visit www.coti.org or “COTI — Committee of the Islands” on Facebook.
Letter from page 4 ested to know whether there is a flowage obstruction somewhere between the Sea Oats subdivision and the western weir that registers 2.75. Has staff actually navigated the flowage or viewed it by drone or some other suitable method to determine whether or not the massive amount of vegetation and other debris tossed about by Hurricane Ian may have created an obstruction? The General Provisions section of the city policy states that “this policy was formulated under existing conditions in 1994 … if modifications are made to this system, this policy should be re-examined and altered if necessary.” Hurricane Ian has “modified” Sanibel and its surface
water system. As staff stated at the council meeting, “This is a situation we have never seen before.” The Interior Flooding Conditions section of the policy states that “weirs may be opened during or subsequent to a period of heavy rainfall which results in interior flooding.” The opening of the weir now would be consistent with the policy because the huge rainfall and storm surge from Hurricane Ian certainly resulted in and continues to cause interior flooding. The Miscellaneous Conditions section of the policy states that “the city manager may deviate from the above (policy) standards when deemed necessary for the preventing of immediate harm to persons, property, or the environment.” The harm
already exists — the inability to remove debris and risk or refusal of contractors to take on roof and property repairs due to water and muck causing ground destabilizing effects. I believe that the historic and catastrophic damage to Sanibel and the homes of its residents and the need for residents to be allowed full safe access to all their property in order to begin to repair their homes and lives is sufficient cause and justification for the city council through its city manager to use all the options provided to him in the city's Surface Water Policy. Finally, at the meeting, council members asked excellent probing questions about the groundwater hydrology of the
Sea Oats subdivision and the potential consequences of taking certain actions (i.e. lowering the water level at the weir), but the majority of staff’s answers were “maybe,” “what I think is going on,” “I don’t know” and “I’m not sure, because this is a situation we have never seen before.” These were honest answers, but not helpful answers because as policymakers, council decisions are only as good as the information they are based upon. I urge council to direct staff to investigate more thoroughly and provide it the factual answers to its hydrological questions. Only then, will the residents be well served. Chuck Haas Sanibel
Island Reporter
Okeechoobee could be intensifying the current red tide bloom around Sanibel. The red tide bloom has been patchy on our coast since October and was exacerbated by runoff from Hurricane Ian. Reports of fish kills this past month have been frequent along Sanibel beaches and reports of mild to severe respiratory irritation have also been reported. Recently, the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission has detected bloom levels of Karenia brevis in 22 samples in Lee County and the Florida Department of Health has issued health alerts for the presence of red tide near Lynn Hall Park (Fort Myers Beach), Gasparilla Island State Park (Boca Grande Pass), Turner Beach (Captiva), Blind Pass Beach (Sanibel), and Lighthouse Beach Park (Sanibel). Shellfish harvesting areas in the Pine Island Sound and Matlacha Pass have been closed due to the presence of K. brevis. When red tide intensifies, it’s not only bad for wildlife and human health, but it is also bad for tourism. Sanibel is typically viewed as an escape from the overly developed cities of Fort Myers and Cape Coral, and we have just begun reopening our beaches and businesses to the
breezenewspapers.com
By LEAH REIDENBACH Understanding how releases from Lake Okeechobee are connected to the red tide bloom that has lingered off the Southwest Florida coast since October tells us that it could have been worse if flows weren’t curbed at first. It also tells us that releases may now be fueling the bloom with nutrient loading, jeopardizing the much-needed restoration of our islands’ tourism economy. Most of all, it tells us that striking a healthy balance between Lake Okeechobee levels, ecology, and safety, and the environmental effects of flows to the northern estuaries is impossible with the current infrastructure and water management practices. Lake Okeechobee levels have an important impact on water flows to the Caloosahatchee River. Since Hurricanes Ian and Nicole, Lake Okeechoobee levels have been too high and were at a level that is designated as the “Intermediate sub-band” by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in their Lake Operation Release Schedule, known as LORS08. Under this operating schedule (developed in 2008), the Corps was directed to release up to 4,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) at S-77 (the lock and dam closest to the lake) and up to 1,800 cfs at S-80 (the St. Lucie Estuary on the east coast). These flows would have caused major environmental issues to both coasts if they had been implemented, which would have further devastated our community after going through Hurricane Ian. Instead of implementing high-volume releases, the Corps utilized a makeup release tool, sending us a seven-day average of 2,000 cfs and “banking” the difference for releases later in the wet season. After watching the lake slowly recede for months, it is now in what is designated as the “Low sub-band” and LORS08 directs the Corps to release up to 450 cfs at S79 and 200 cfs at S-80. However, they are going to continue sending us 2,000 cfs at S-79 and 500 cfs to S-80 to use water that is stored in the bank and to continue to lower lake levels. Unfortunately, despite efforts to curtail high-volume releases to our estuary, we are still experiencing red tide on our coast. While 2,000 cfs is technically within the RECOVER2020 optimum flow envelope for salinity (750 to 2,100 cfs), this performance measure does not account for seasonality or nutrient loading. Being at the high end of the flow envelope during the dry season does not mimic the natural reduction of flows that would be seen during the dry season and could potentially interfere with spawning season in March and April. Further, the additional nutrient loading from Lake
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Intensifying red tide threatens islands’ recovery