Help on the Way for Estero Bay

Last week, Town Council passed a resolution asking the South Florida Water Management District to develop a watershed mangement program for Estero Bay. At that meeting, Environmental Science Coordinator Keith Laakkonen talked about how important it is for the quality of life on our island that we become good stewards of our back bay, saying that the "oil spill is not half the threat to us as mismanagment of our watershed”. We decided to meet with Keith this week to find out exactly what he meant and to learn more about the resolution that Council passed.

"The governing board of the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) has had this on their list of things to do for quite a while,” Keith told us. "With Dr. Greg Tolley at FGCU just finishing a comprehensive study of Estero Bay, the science is now there for them to establish a Minimum Flow Level (MFL) for Estero Bay by 2011.”

Keith explained that, naturally, freshwater flows into Estero Bay at a higher rate during the summer rainy season and a lower rate during the winter dry season.

"Now, if the wet season is wetter and the dry season is drier, it can alter the entire ecosystem – oysters, fish, crabs and plankton – if there are certain times of the year when there's way too much fresh water coming in than naturally,” he said.

"What many people don't realize is that the watershed for Estero Bay is huge – covering some 345 miles and 5 creeks and waterways: Hendry Creek, Mullock Creek (Six Mile Cypress Slough and 10 Mile Canal), Estero River, Spring Creek and the Imperial River,” he continued. "Sometimes the flow from the Imperial River is the most influential, and sometimes it's the flow from 10 Mile Canal. So if you set a minimum flow level for the center of Estero Bay, you'll miss the rest of the bay as there are different influences all over.”

"We are asking them to use the best available science – and there's lots of it out there - to develop an overall plan for the bay.”

Keith said that he wasn't sure if the District had ever approached a water management plan in this fashion, adding that Estero Bay hasn't been a natural watershed for a long time.

"Over the years, man has engineered ditches and canals that slow down the water at the wrong time of year and keep it from entering the back bay,” he said. "The best thing to do would be to find a system somewhere else to use as a control – ‘this is what it should look like'.”

"I know that this year in April and May there was way too much fresh water coming in due to the excessive releases from Lake Okeechobee, and we may not know the full impact of that for awhile,” he continued. "This plan will prevent them (SWFMD) from doing a significant level of harm.”

Laakkonen said that the objective of Council's resolution is to get the SFWMD to "put some folks together to all the science, hydrodynamic modules that significantly explain the freshwater influences and tidal dynamics of Estero Bay” in order to develop a minimum flow level.

A portion of the resolution – which passed unanimously – reads as follows:

"The natural estuarine balance of Estero Bay has been impacted by changes in the timing and volume of fresh water inflows to the bay which in turn affects the quality of the eco-systems in Estero Bay. State statute directs the SFWMD to develop a list of priority water bodies for development of a MFL to protect water bodies from ‘significant harm'. The Comprehensive Plan states that, "The Town of Fort Myers Beach will take all feasible steps to protect it's marine and estuarine habitats and finfish/shellfish resources to ensure their long term viability and productivity for scientific, commercial, sport and recreational purposes”. This resolution will encourage the District to develop optimal flows for Mullock Creek, Hendry Creek, Estero River, Spring Creek and the Imperial River as well as Estero Bay that would not allow for any harm to occur to the ecology of Estero Bay.”

Keith said he expects to hear back from the SFWMD shortly.

"All of this will benefit the quality of life of everyone on Fort Myers Beach – people move here to be closer to the water,” he said.

"We've engineered our way into this problem, and we're going to have to engineer our way out if it.”