Samantha, UR- Nutrients and the Indian River Lagoon, We need to take more action !

Agricultural lands drain about 70 percent of nutrients - phosphorus and nitrogen- that end up in the St. Lucie River and the Indian River Lagoon, the state department of Environmental Protection Estimates.  The water district tests for nutrients monthly in nine locations in Martin and St. Lucie counties including the four major canals, Ten Mile Creek and the St. Lucie Rivers North and South forks.  DEP has established St. Lucie Watershed Basin Management Action Plans (BMAP).  BMAP is the "blueprint" for restoring impaired waters by reducing pollutant loading to meet the allowable loadings established in a total maximum daily load(TMDL).  It represents a comprehensive set of strategies--permit limits on wastewater facilities, urban and agricultural best management practices, conservation programs, financial assistance and revenue generating activities, etc.--designed to implement the pollutant reductions established by the TMDL. These broad-based plans are developed with local stakeholders--they rely on local input and local commitment--and they are adopted by Secretarial Order to be enforceable. The link below shows the sights that are under control by the BMAP.

http://www.dep.state.fl.us/water/watersheds/docs/bmap/bmap_activities.pdf

Under this plan however, state agencies make no effort to identify heavy polluters including the St. Lucie's watershed, where river runoff flows through several large canals and other tributaries into the lagoon and river, a Treasures Coast Newspaper investigation found.  Critics say BMAP is a nebulous approach that doesn't tackle pollution hotspots. The plan covers too broad of an area, calls for too-infrequent progress checks and requires no site inspections to ensure landowners make needed changes, they say. This system lets pollution flow unchecked for up to five years. At the point, the state examines whether water quality has worsened, but it imposes no penalties on landowners who don’t reduce nutrients, said Mark Perry, executive director of the Florida Oceanographic Society.  The nine locations are tested by the water district monthly for nutrients.  However, if nutrient levels surge, no one searches upstream for polluters.  The districts environmental permits have no nutrient limits or reduction targets, including agriculture.  GPS maps show most land in the watershed is agriculture. The rest is a blend of urban and undeveloped land.  Environmental Engineer, Gary Gofroth, crafted a 25-page analysis on nutrient runoff in local basins.  The district reviewed and denied to comment.  Gorforth estimates that 1.7 million pounds of nitrogen and 385,000 pounds of phosphorus flowed from agriculture lands to St. Lucie River in 2013-2014.