Group to score the Indian River Lagoon's health

MELBOURNE —The Indian River Lagoon's vital signs will be on display next week at the Florida Institute of Technology, including key measures of what makes this estuary of national significance so sick, lately.

On Feb. 22, the Marine Resources Council, a nonprofit environmental group based in Palm Bay, will unveil early findings from a two-year, $180,000 study of the lagoon's health — the estuary's first ecological report card of sorts.

"There is just a dearth of scientific data to understand this complex system," said Leesa Souto, executive director of the Marine Resources Council.

The study was funded almost entirely from local foundations and private donors, Souto said, and included a $47,000 grant from the National Estuary Program.

"Ideally, we'd do this every year," Souto said.

MRC examined various segments of the lagoon, looking at 20 years of water quality and habitat data, including measures of chlorophyll, nitrogen, phosphorus, seagrass, and the typical cloudiness of the water.

The report card provides a baseline for comparison of lagoon restoration efforts. It was inspired by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s annual community report and is based on repeatable scientific methods to measure progress of restoration efforts.

"This year it's not going to get a letter grade. Next year it might," Souto said.

This year, lagoon segments received numerical scores, based on how close they came to meeting established targets for seagrass, water pollution and other parameters.

In 2016 and 2015, no section of the lagoon passed, Souto said. In 2014, the Mosquito Lagoon passed MRC's scoring criteria.

"It depends on the year and the section of the lagoon," Souto said of how the lagoon fared.

The full report card won't be released until further review, Souto said, and the full report won't be published until April. "This is like the preview, or draft," she said.

Part of the study focused on identifying additional data needs.

"Nobody's collecting data on fecal coliforms. There are a lot of things we thought were important indicators of health," Souto said. 

Troy Branham, 22, of Melbourne, knows the score on the lagoon. He measures it on the end of his fishing line.

"Since this fall, it's been getting worse," Branham said Thursday, sitting on Eau Gallie Fishing Pier, as a brown algae-tinted lagoon lapped up along its rocky banks. Branham's daily trips to the pier used to yield plenty of keepers: mangrove snapper, spotted sea trout and more.

"If we're lucky, we'll get a small little snapper," he said. "Personally, now, I wouldn't eat anything out of the river."

Contact Waymer at 321-242-3663 or jwaymer@floridatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter @JWayEnviro

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Want to go?

Get a peak at the first Indian River Lagoon Report Card during a free symposium at 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Feb. 22, at the Florida Institute of Technology's Gleason Auditorium. Keynote presenters include Leesa Souto, executive director of MRC; Duane De Freese, executive director of the Indian River Lagoon Council; and Virginia Barker, director of Brevard County Natural Resources Department. A question and answer session will follow the program. Doors open at 6:30 to allow attendees time to visit the exhibits in the lobby. 

Reservations (free) are suggested. Visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/special-preview-of-the-first-indian-river-lagoon-report-card-tickets-42577530540