The Volusia County Council has adopted a summertime fertilizer ban and initiated other restrictions to protect the local waterways. Ordinance 2014-09 applies to all homes and businesses in Volusia County except those in Deltona and Debrary, which have their own fertilizer ordinances. The new ordinance includes these provisions: The application of fertilizer containing Nitrogen and Phosphorus is prohibited from June 1 through September 30 of each year. Fertilizer may not be applied within 15 feet of water bodies. Fertilizer containing Nitrogen may be applied only between Oct. 1st and May 31 and must contain no less than 50% slow release Nitrogen. With all of this said I would like to come back to one of my past blogs about a hypoxic zone. On September 16, 2015, almost days before you the fertilizer ban was over, Canal street canal, a subterranean canal located right on the edge of businesses and active floods, was measured with a dissolved oxygen content under 2 mg/L. In reading my latest posts especially the one about Hypoxia, I state that this could very likely have been due to an overabundance in nutrient in the biovolume leading to an algae bloom which eventually took over the oxygen in that area. Are people disobeying these bans on fertilizer and still continuing to do this to their lawn annually without a time of practicing florida friendly landscape techniques maybe these laws should be enforced. Non-point sources of pollution, which include fertilizer runoff, contribute significant amounts of nutrients to our water bodies. Runoff from improper use of fertilizer can contribute to nitrogen and phosphorous pollution in surface waters and ground water. Attached is a list of summer safe fertilizers that comply with fertilizer laws and are formulated to help prevent water pollution
http://www.volusia.org/core/fileparse.php/4180/urlt/summer-safe-products.pdf
Very nice information, Sam. Also to think about--yes, our nutrient levels were high and oxygen levels were hypoxic in the canal. But another thought (in addition to your plankton bloom idea)--waters discharging from the subterranean canal have not seen the 'light of day' for a bit of time. Without sunlight (and photosynthesis) it's likely that respiration is the dominant reaction taking place. Recall that the process of respiration consumes oxygen. I would love to hear other suggestions as to why canal waters near the Canal Street canal outfall were hypoxic! Anyone??
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