Tigertail Lagoon Solution

Change is constant in climate and beach shorelines.  It always has been and always will be. It doesn’t matter if you spend $12 million or $12 trillion to try to shape it to what man wants, nature will be what it will be. As the writer expressed in the August 8-14 issue of the Coastal Breeze Guest Commentary, the county, city, and Hideaway Special Tax District have spent millions of dollars in the recent past and will continue to spend our tax dollars in the future tilting at windmills. I also walked the beach the Monday after Debbie passed 150 miles offshore and saw water overflowing the beachfor almost a mile at low tide. I returned on Thursday at low tide and walked across the 50-yard breach 18 inches deep which effectively makes Sand Dollar spit an island once again. The canal behind the beach is also starting to close again shutting off water to Tigertail Lagoon. The effect upon nesting turtles and migrating birds with a beach that is there one day and gone the next is tragic. 

A better solution is to reopen the Clam Bay Canal bisecting the southern end of Tigertail Lagoon, allowing fresh Gulf water to flow twice a day not only into the lagoon, but also into the canals in the NW quadrant of Marco Island. The City Water Quality Board plans to increase the number and size of culverts under San Marco Road to improve water quality in the canals, but the study reveals this decreases water quality in this area. This solves that problem. It also means we can stop spending millions of dollars rebuilding the beach every year between Sand Dollar Island and Tiger Tail, allowing nature to reclaim what is meant to be and improving the flora and fauna in this nature preserve.  It’s time to discuss a different solution.