Grass Growing and Pooling on Marco Beach Nothing New

Since the 1990s we have been looking at the beach from our eighth-floor balcony at the Admiralty House. In the past, trucks came onto our beach to deliver sand but later on removed some. This created a depression that filled with water after each rain. Then plants started to grow in the pooling water. Now the pooling and ponding and growing algae have become worse.

My mom has been concerned with this issue since 2016 and wrote to Gary McAlpin, then Manager of the Collier County Coastal Zone. In 2016, he responded as follows: “…the flatness and width of the beaches create ponding and pooling and algae formations where the standing water puddles. The County and the Coastal Advisory Committee has been working to correct this drainage issue for 10 years. In the past, we have laser graded the beaches by filling in the low spots with sand from higher points on the beach.”

Several attempts have been made to add sand and they laser grade it, but there is not enough sand. More sand should be added to allow for settling and wind dispersion.

The dark pooling on the beach is a barrier that keeps people from using the entire beach. Maintaining the beach in good condition is so important to the residents, tourists and businesses. It is the beach that draws people to Marco Island, and everyone benefits from keeping the beach beautiful.