Commentary: Southwest Florida’s lost summer? Don’t just get angry, do something

Julie Wraithmell
Executive director, Audubon Florida
Julie Wraithmell is the executive director of Audubon Florida

It’s hard to see dead fish littering Southwest Florida’s beaches as far as the eye can see. Even if you close your eyes, the smell won’t let you forget. Images of dying manatees and sea turtles and fuzzy black skimmer chicks starving on our beaches make even the most cheerful among us angry.

I’ve heard a lot of blame thrown around recently, especially faulting long-suffering Lake Okeechobee for Southwest Florida’s coastal woes. The lake does need real help. Its flow is constrained to the south, and the lake is overburdened by nutrients. The nutrients and blue-green algae coming down the Caloosahatchee River have terrible impacts on the areas where they meet the Gulf. But they aren’t fueling the red tide as far away as Naples and St. Petersburg.

The bad news is other nutrient sources are contributing to this broader red tide problem. The good news is there are many things we can do to address these problems and reduce the likelihood of this becoming a regular summer occurrence.

This is a terrible red tide. Yes, it is naturally occurring, but this year's geographic extent and duration are both extraordinary. We know warmer water temperatures and nutrient-laden nearshore waters create the perfect conditions for red tides; the conditions are ripe this summer. If you're heartsick like I am over the tragedy unfolding on our coasts, let’s take ownership of the causes and fix them instead of just laying blame.

People have a role in causing this and a responsibility to fix it. 

Some of the sources of nutrients driving the blooms are the result of choices we make. How we can help:

• Skip the fertilizer: Nutrients fueling algae are nitrogen and phosphorus, the same stuff we put on our lawns and golf courses. When it rains, fertilizer and grass clippings wash into waterways, where they nourish blooms instead of lawns. We need to shift our aesthetic away from lawns and toward native plants that use less water, require no fertilizer and provide habitat for birds and pollinators.

• Government leaders: Use your vote to support candidates and efforts that invest in and protect our precious water resources. Safeguards like Lee County’s fertilizer restrictions during summer months need our visible support. Ask for and promote local protections that support the waterways upon which we depend and expect state protections for water resources to be well-funded and enforced.

• Protect and restore wetlands: Not only do wetlands absorb floodwaters during heavy rainfall, they also help clean nutrients from water. When we replace a chain of connected wetlands with a straight, hardened ditch, water gets to the coast much faster and much dirtier than it would naturally. Wetlands are lost permit by permit. They are difficult to regain. We have to support wetlands protections and restoration efforts to ensure our remaining wetlands perform at their best. 

• Restore America’s Everglades: We must build the imminent Everglades Agricultural Area reservoir to hold and clean more water from Lake Okeechobee. North of the lake, we must slow and clean more water naturally in wetlands. We must send more water south to the southern Everglades and Florida Bay where it’s desperately needed.

These measures are critical because, in Florida, our economy is our ecology. Not only do our beaches draw visitors and drive economic growth, but our natural beauty amplifies property values. Further, our water supply and green spaces attract job-creating industries and the competitive staff they require.

While people have contributed to this tragedy, we also have the opportunity to be the solution. Florida deserves leaders who nurture our economy by protecting our environmental health and citizens who do their part to defend this vulnerable paradise.

Wraithmell is executive director of Audubon Florida. To learn more:

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