Water Quality and Public Health

What a few weeks we've had bracing for, and reacting to, all the tropical weather impacts to Southwest Florida. It's been a blur for many of us, but we are working hard to persevere.

While some important October events were postponed and rescheduled due to the storms, we did host our public meeting on Fecal Indicator Bacteria (FIB) water contamination in Fort Myers on October 15th. A recap of that event for those who missed it is below:

Capt. Codty Pierce Calusa Waterkeeper

Manuel's Branch Meeting Recap

Calusa Waterkeeper representatives including Waterkeeper Codty Pierce, Executive Director Connie Ramos-Williams, Mary Kay Kralapp, and our guest from Heal Our Harbor in Charlotte County, Richard Whitman PhD, all spoke to our findings, the risks and calls-to-action regarding the fecal bacteria contamination in Manuel's Branch and other local waterways. This was our first public presentation on the matter, and it likely will not be the last.

Water Quality & Public Health Meeting at the Fort Myers-Lee County Garden Council

A few takeaways:

• Local creeks such as Manuel’s Branch and Billy’s Creek suffer from consistently high fecal bacteria contamination.
• The pollution is likely to include human origins, among a variety of other sources.
• No matter the source, the presence of these high levels carry elevated health risks to humans and pets that contact this water.
• In the case of Manuel’s Branch and Billy’s Creek, Florida law and a specific consent order levied by the FL Department of Environmental Protection, requires the City of Fort Myers to restore these surface waters.
• The City of Fort Myers is now in year four of a special Pollution Reduction Plan, but the high levels of contamination persist. The impairments have been known for much longer than that.
• We believe more can be done to expedite source tracing and restoration of these surface waters.
• The issue of deteriorating and under-capacity sewage infrastructure will continue to worsen in SWFL.
• Restoration efforts and what we learn in Manuel’s Branch can likely be repeated in other local water bodies suffering from similar water quality degradation.

A slide from our Manuel's Branch sampling efforts and presentation.

While the City of Fort Myers has responded to some of our concerns, including recently posting new "no swimming or fishing" signs at the Manuels Branch Neighborhood Park, we still feel strongly that much more could be done to identify and eliminate possible point-sources in this waterbody (and others).

We invite you to contact City of Fort Myers officials and ask them to prioritize and expedite efforts to locate and eliminate the sources of bacterial pollution in surface waters such as Manuel's Branch. We've created a campaign tool that makes it easy to do so. Use this button to access a letter to the City which can be edited and personalized before sending:

The Bigger Picture

On the broader water quality concerns after experiencing back-to-back impacts from Hurricanes Helene and Milton, we would still urge caution when considering recreating in our local waters.

It has been documented in the press that our area is experiencing an increase in vibrio vulnificus (flesh-eating bacteria) cases after these storms. If that doesn't give you pause about potential risks in our waters, I don't know what will. Children and adults with open cuts or immune deficiencies should likely take great caution or avoid exposure to our waters currently.

As always, please do not hesitate to contact us with any water pollution concerns.

📅 Upcoming Events

Climate, Wetlands and the Right to Clean Waters

This is one of the many meetings rescheduled due to Hurricane Milton, and its importance is becoming ever the more obvious as we experience more severe and frequent storm impacts. Join speakers from Climate Reality, SCCF, Protect Our Wetlands in Cape Coral, Florida Right to Clean Water and SWFL EcoAlliance.

Tuesday, October 29, 2024 at 6:00pm

Cape Coral Power Squadron/America's Boating Club

917 SE 47th Terrace Cape Coral, FL 33904

Vertical Oyster Garden (VOG) Workshop

Join us at this popular community vent to learn how to build your own oyster garden to hang from a dock, encourage marine growth for new habitats and help filter water in our estuary. This is one of our ongoing initiatives where you can get hands-on in helping to protect and restore SWFL's water quality. A $25/person donation is requested to help cover the costs. Follow the button below to pay and register.

Saturday, November 9, 2024 at 9:30am

Rusty's Raw Bar & Grill

20041 S. Tamiami Trail Estero, FL 33928

In the Press & Around the Watershed

Cape Coral resident Dan Carney is this month’s featured #WaterWarrior. 💦

Calusa Waterkeeper - October 19, 2024

Ralph Arwood, our eye in the sky's survey of area beaches post-Milton

Calusa Waterkeeper - October 17, 2024

Flesh-eating bacteria infections spike in Lee, Collier County after hurricanes Helene, Milton

Fort Myers News-Press - October 16, 2024

Red Tide was starting to show in Tampa Bay and parts of Pine Island Sound in early October, before Milton's landfall in the region.

Calusa Waterkeeper - October 15, 2024

Presenters Mary Kay Kralapp, Dr. Richard Whitman, Codty Pierce and Connie Ramos-Williams at our public meeting in Fort Myers.

Calusa Waterkeeper - October 15, 2024

Ranger Training Academy Module 3 on Advocacy teaching future rangers about permitting, policy, regulations and advocacy.

Calusa Waterkeeper - October 5, 2024

CWK helped collect samples for a paper that was recently published, "Statewide Surveillance and Mapping of PFAS in Florida Surface Water"

Calusa Waterkeeper - October 3, 2024

DOH, FGCU professor warn against making contact with waters after Hurricane Helene

Fort Myers News-Press - October 2, 2024