Lagoon faces unprecedented peril | News-JournalOnline.com
Lagoon faces unprecedented peril | News-JournalOnline.com:
Henderson does a great job of addressing the issues, the sources of the problems and various solutions.
Volusia County is not alone in dealing with these problems. Tampa Bay, St Lucy and more have similar problems. Lawns and septic tanks are mentioned. Many people have their lawns on automatic, so it gets irrigated, rain or shine, winter or summer. They want to have beautiful green lawns year round in Florida. Especially in the rainy season, the fertilizer washes off so they add even more.
Fertilizing at the right time, and careful water management is critical to avoiding all of the runoff of fertilizer. Systems are starting to get really smart, in fact, by sensing the moisture in the ground and checking weather forecasts. No need to water if it is likely to rain tomorrow.
But what do you do with people who won’t be proactive in water management. In Florida, you have snow birds who are gone a lot. Renters who are less attentive and vacant houses.
Septic is another issue. Passing a law that everyone has to have it pumped and inspected every couple years is overkill. Probe tests are ineffective, the last I heard, so opening it and pumping it, is the only sure way. And moving to a mandatory municipal service has lots of problems.
In most of these areas, it seems that a combination of carrot and stick must be used.
And that’s just two of the sources. There’s Ag, industrial, traffic, boating and other sources of pollutants.
At the source types of remedies are always easiest. Identifying the biggest issues and concentrating on those big issues and are actionable is a critical place to start.
Imagine that almost every community everywhere (Flint, Michigan) is have medium to major water issues. Droughts, floods, contaminants, and aging water systems.
There are some good sources on the topic(s):
- Out of water: From abundance to scarcity and how to solve the world’s water problems by Chartres and Varma (2011).
- Aqua Shock: The water crisis in America by Marks (2009)
- World Water Day (at UN): http://www.unwater.org/worldwaterday
