WATER QUALITY REPORT FOR JAN. 14, 2024
Quiz time: What is made of water, sometimes but not always, helps and hurts the environment at the same time, and you most likely walked or drove by one today without even noticing despite it being larger than the foundation of a small house?
The 76,000 stormwater retention ponds throughout Florida have become ubiquitous, and today they are the most common stormwater control measure in America.
In Florida alone, those retention ponds cover a combined area of nearly 250 square miles. At one time the ponds were considered nothing but brilliant.
Except now there is widespread acceptance of global warming caused by greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, and new research has discovered — bummer — most stormwater retention ponds emit more of the gases into the atmosphere than they store, or sequester, down in the mud or sediment at the bottom.
The development of stormwater containment ponds as a method for handling runoff, which is filled with a mix of everything water can wash away, whether inert or dangerous, has evolved over several decades.
In new subdivisions, a series of ponds to catch excess nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilizers and animal waste are typically part of the design. One pond each at the four corners of a bridge corrals rainwater pouring from the road surface filled with motor oil, rubber from tires, assorted pieces of glass, plastic, fabric, paint, and anything else that ends up on the roadbed.
The ponds are often filled with the types of plants they are using in the Everglades restoration to filter polluted water from Lake Okeechobee before releasing it south to its historic flow toward Florida Bay.
The thinking was, and still is in many cases, that the stormwater ponds are a great solution that uses nature, not electricity, to clean polluted runoff as the water percolates back down toward the aquifer.
But in a study in “Communications Earth & Environment,” a journal with research on Earth, environmental, and planetary sciences, researchers tested several stormwater ponds in Southwest Florida and discovered “Florida’s urban stormwater ponds are net sources of carbon to the atmosphere despite increased carbon burial over time,” which happens to be the title of the article.
By comparing the amount of carbon sequestered at the bottom of the ponds with the level of emissions of carbon dioxide and methane, both potent greenhouse gases, it became evident that many stormwater ponds emit more carbon than they store.
The variables that can affect whether stormwater ponds are effective carbon sinks are almost limitless: how deep they are, how long water stays in the ponds, whether the ponds regularly dry up between rainy periods, if fish have been stocked in them, the make-up of sediments and pollutants in the runoff entering the ponds, whether the ponds are treated with chemicals to control algae growth, if there are crumbling sidewalks near the ponds contributing elements of concrete, the type and abundance of vegetation, or lack thereof, surrounding the ponds, whether muck removal is part of the maintenance of the ponds, whether there are fountains or bubblers in the ponds to add oxygen into the water, how the ponds were constructed … the list goes on and on.
But the most important variable is how long a pond has been there. The good news is the longer the ponds are in place, the more effective they become at sequestering planet-warming gases.
In the short term, the authors suggest that the role of stormwater ponds should be considered in regional and global carbon models.
But in the long run, stormwater runoff ponds in Florida will be 76,000 of the many, many, more solutions society needs to come up with to keep global warming from wreaking more havoc than it already does.
RED TIDE
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is reporting the red tide organism, Karenia brevis, was not observed in samples collected from any of the coastal counties in Southwest Florida.
There were no reports of fish kills suspected to be related to red tide this week.
Respiratory irritation connected to red tide was not reported in Southwest Florida so far this month.
However, the week wasn’t as clear for the region’s birds. The CROW wildlife hospital on Sanibel admitted ten birds with suspected red tide toxicosis most of whom died including a snowy egret (released), a juvenile wood stork (died), an adult lesser scaup (died), a juvenile brown pelican (died), an adult common loon (died), an adult Forster’s tern (died), an adult ruddy turnstone (died), a juvenile royal tern (still at CROW), and two adult royal terns (one died; one still at CROW)..
BLUE-GREEN ALGAE
Lee County Environmental Lab reported the presence of elements of blue-green algae at the Alva Boat Ramp with some specks visible.
Florida Department of Environmental Protection assessed satellite imagery of Lake Okeechobee and found visible blooms of blue-green algae on the western edge of the lake.
The FDEP says it is important to remember the blue-green algae potential is subject to change due to rapidly changing environmental conditions or satellite inconsistencies.
What is red tide?
Red tide is one type of harmful algal bloom caused by high concentrations of the toxic dinoflagellate K. brevis, which is a type of microscopic algae found in the Gulf of Mexico.
Red tide typically forms naturally offshore, commonly in late summer or early fall, and is carried into coastal waters by winds and currents. Once inshore, these opportunistic organisms can use nearshore nutrient sources to fuel their growth.
Blooms typically last into winter or spring, but in some cases, can endure for more than one year.
Is red tide harmful?
K. brevis produces potent neurotoxins that can be harmful to the health of both wildlife and people. Wind and wave action can break open K. brevis cells and release toxins into the air. This is why you should monitor conditions and stay away from beaches where red tide is in bloom.
People in coastal areas can experience varying degrees of eye, nose and throat irritation during a red tide bloom. Some individuals with chronic respiratory conditions like asthma or chronic lung disease might experience more severe symptoms.
Red tide toxins can also affect the central nervous system of fish and other marine life, which can lead to fish kills.
What causes red tide?
A red tide bloom develops naturally, but recent studies have discovered mankind's infusion of other nutrients into the mix can make the red tide last longer or get stronger. But biology (the organisms), chemistry (natural or man-made nutrients for growth), and physics (concentrating and transport mechanisms) interact to produce the algal bloom. No one factor causes the development of a red tide bloom.
What is blue-green algae?
Blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria, are a group of organisms that can live in freshwater, saltwater or brackish water.
Large concentrations, called blooms, can change the water color to blue, green, brown, orange or red. Some cyanobacterial blooms can look like foam, scum, or mats on the surface of freshwater lakes and ponds. As algae in a cyanobacterial bloom die, the water may smell like something with a naturally unpleasant odor has now started to rot, too.
Is blue-green algae harmful?
Different types of blue-green algal bloom species can look different and have different impacts. However, regardless of species, many types of blue-green algae can produce toxins that can make you or your pets sick if swallowed or possibly cause skin and eye irritation.
The FDEP advises staying out of water where algae is visibly present as specks or mats or where water is discolored. Pets or livestock should not come into contact with algal bloom-impacted water or with algal bloom material or fish on the shoreline. If they do, wash the animals right away.
What causes blue-green algae?
Blue-green algae blooms occur when the algae that are typically present grow in numbers more than normal. Within a few days, a bloom can cause clear water to become cloudy.
Winds tend to push the floating blooms to the shore where they become more noticeable. Cyanobacterial blooms can form in warm, slow-moving waters that are rich in nutrients. Blooms can occur at any time, but most often occur in late summer or early fall.
If any major type of water quality alert is issued, you can find the details here in WGCU’s Water Quality Report.
Environmental reporting for WGCU is funded in part by VoLo Foundation, a non-profit with a mission to accelerate change and global impact by supporting science-based climate solutions, enhancing education, and improving health.
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