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MOSQUITO LAGOON
North America's most diverse estuary. |
One of the questions asked buy Dr. Woodall regarding my topic on Golf Courses and their impact on the environment was. How many golf courses are there within the Indian River Lagoon drainage
basin and how much area (acres, square miles, percentage?) does this
represent? Although this is a very dynamic question to answer specifically, I will try to throw some light on it. Look
here for a interactive map to
most of Volusia County's Golf Golf Courses. Keep in mind some of the pointers are not 18 hole golf courses at all, some are putt-putt's, a couple are driving ranges, and some are just golf shops. But the nearest I can count is approximately 20 full sized courses along the I-95 corridor in Volusia County. As far as the Indian River Lagoon drainage basin part of the question I'll need to do some research regarding where that line is (more to come on that). As far as acreage the average 18 hole course requires about 120-150 acres. One other item that has to be considered is, Golf Courses are designed topographically to keep all the precipitation that falls on the property on site. Most all of the surface water drains to the ponds/lakes which are then connected and drain to a central lake on property. That water will then be used for irrigation when needed and a lot of irrigation is needed, in the summer we put down close to 180,000 gallons a night. A lot of time and expense is taken to rid the course of excess surface water quickly and store that water for future use. So only in extreme precipitation events will this water have a chance to leave the property. What I'm trying to get to is most of the chemicals we put down to keep the grass so green do not have much of an opportunity to leave the property.
Just saying... not trying to defend!!!
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| INDIAN RIVER MARSH |
(More to come)
Indian River Lagoon Watershed Stats - The following information is quoted from this same webpage>
"Size of Basin: 155 square miles
Major Cities and Towns: New Smyrna Beach,
Titusville, Cocoa, Rockledge, Merritt Island, Melbourne, Palm Bay,
Sebastian, Vero Beach, Cape Canaveral, Cocoa Beach, Satellite Beach,
Indian Harbour Beach, Indialantic, and Melbourne Beach
Counties: Fifty percent of the watershed lies within Brevard County, and smaller areas lie within Volusia and Indian River Counties
(I Did not count Golf Courses in Brevard County)
Major Water Features: Ponce de Leon Inlet, Jupiter Inlet, Mosquito Lagoon, Indian River Lagoon, Banana River, and St. Lucie River and Estuary".
Jody--can you tell us more about the ponds and lakes created for golf courses? e.g., are there size and depths requirements? When they are created, are there steps taken to prevent groundwater seepage? Are they monitored for water quality? If so, for which parameters and how often? You don't have to answer these questions all at once but these will be questions you should be prepared to answer for your project.
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