I attended a meeting of the Indian River Lagoon Council Management Board this past week. As the representative of the Treasure Coast Regional League of Cities, my purpose for being appointed is to give the other board members the perspective of our cities.  What you quickly discover is that the problems of our Indian River Lagoon are not restricted to Stuart, Martin County or even the Treasure Coast. The estuary encompasses five counties and two water management districts. Each of those areas has its own set of challenges which affect the water quality in everyone’s areas.

The Indian River Lagoon (IRL) has three main bodies of water: Mosquito Lagoon, Banana River and the Indian River Lagoon. There are no true rivers because there are no headwaters and no mouths, such as the Mississippi River has. The IRL is an estuary and that is why it is part of the National Estuary Program.  The Council is a federal program under the supervision of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and is funded by Congress.

Through the IRL grants program, local governments and other organizations can participate in an RFP process to secure funding for water quality projects. This is an additional source for money besides going to the Florida Legislature. The Indian River Lagoon Council is a resource that should be used in our fight for our Florida waterways.

As I have repeatedly said and written, there is no one magic solution to Florida’s water quality problems. It took over a hundred years of neglect, ignorance and, in some instances, downright skullduggery to create this problem. We will need another century and billions of dollars to correct it. One water farm or reservoir or sewer system is only one piece of the puzzle in this ongoing fight.

So I will continue to make what contribution I can in this area, both as an elected official and resident of the area. Unfortunately, this should be looked on as a multi-generational struggle. I am not going to blame or demonize one industry or interest group.  That would be counter-productive to achieving the goal. It took all of us, either through greed or ignorance, to harm our estuary. It will take everyone to help in its transformation into what we want it to be.