Marco Island Water Quality Status Report July 2021

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Guest Commentary Image.pdf

Problem: Marco Island waterways are impaired for dissolved oxygen.

Hypoxia is oxygen depletion in waterways. Oxygen depletion is a phenomenon that occurs in aquatic environments as dissolved oxygen becomes reduced in concentration to a point where it becomes detrimental to aquatic organisms living in the system, such as fish, grasses, and oysters.

A Hypoxia Investigation was presented at the Marco Island Waterways Advisory Committee (WAC) meeting on August 19, 2021. This report shows that the Marco Island waterways are impaired for Dissolved Oxygen (DO) and trending to hypoxia. If this continues, Marco Island will officially be declared impaired for DO in 2023. The Marco Island waterways are already impaired for Total Nitrogen (TN). Nitrogen is a pollutant food source for Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB) which in turn consume oxygen.

All water quality sampling locations in Basins One, Two and Four are impaired for DO as they are below the healthy DO limit of 5.0 mg/L. Basin Five is the only healthy basin on the island; Basin Five gets NO reuse water from the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). The Swallow Water Quality (WQ) sampling location has been hypoxic for two months now. This location is near Cape Marco Point and is surrounded on three sides by condominiums that use reuse water for landscape irrigation. What home buyer tells their realtor that they want impaired water next to their dream home? This can’t be good for real estate values. What will be the impact to tourism? In Florida, tourism is more than just big business, it is THE business.

The hypoxia investigation indicates that nutrients in the reuse water on Marco are the root-cause of oxygen depletion in these waterways. Let’s be clear – reuse water is treated sewage. “Reuse” is the politically correct term. Sounds like a good thing. What the state forgot when they promoted this program is the massive amounts of nutrients that come with this “water” that we joyfully use to fertilize the lush green grass in our public spaces.

Reuse water represents a significant revenue stream to the City. It is also a cheap source of water for landscape irrigation. City of Marco Island documents show that users of reuse water include the three golf course: Island Country Club, Hideaway Beach and Naples Golf – Marriot Resort as well as the condos and hotels along Collier Boulevard.

Nutrients feed algal blooms that consume oxygen in the waterways leading to seagrass die-off. Hypoxia eventually leads to the death of all aquatic life in waterways. We are no seeing algal blooms on a weekly basis in the Marco Island waterways.

The hypoxia problem is on Marco Island only and does not exist elsewhere in the estuary. In fact, the DO in the Rookery Bay estuary and the 10,000 Islands is increasing. This impairment is caused by Marco and the impairment is focused only on Marco.

Is there any sea grass left for manatee to fee on? The manatee no longer come here in the numbers that they used to. We assume that they go elsewhere in the Rookery Bay estuary to find their food. The manatee in the Indian River Lagoon, east of Orlando, are not so lucky. They have nowhere else to go. They die of starvation.

The reuse water on Marco contains nitrogen that is 18 times the level of this nutrient allowed by the FDEP in our waterways; Worse yet, the reuse water on Marco contains phosphorus that is 63 times the level of this nutrient allowed by the FDEP. Phosphorus is banned from use as a fertilizer on the island. Why do we allow phosphorus to be dumped on the island in the form of reuse water?

Solution: Clean up the reuse water.

Eugene Wordehoff

Citizen of Marco Island

Member, Waterways Advisory Committee to City Council

Marco Island, Florida