Annual Report
Chronology
2003 has been a year
of growth for the Indian Riverkeeper Program and the Treasure Coast
Environmental Defense Fund.
We
began the development of a project in conjunction with St. Lucie County and
January was also when Twin Vee
Powercats of Port St. Lucie offered us a boat. One of the owners of the company
made the offer on a local fishing TV show and soon thereafter the owner of a
local marina offered to buy us a Honda Four stroke motor for it. We didn’t get
the boat until August and we weren’t provided with the title with which we
could get the boat registered for months after that, but we did go on patrol
with it over the Labor Day weekend and during the grace period when you don’t
yet need the registration. It is a wonderful boat and a clean quiet,
fuel-efficient motor that I believe will serve us well.
We began a period of investigation of
a release of Styrofoam in the estuary, seemingly in conflict with provisions of
a federal law. After months of working to gather evidence and to bring
attorneys with knowledge of the law we determined that the case would not be
suitable for us to pursue after the amount of time that had passed since the
crime. We have learned that when violations of the Marine Plastics Pollution
Research and Control Act (MPPRCA) are discovered and pursued in a timely fashion,
whistleblower provisions provide substantial rewards for filing citizen suits
for the enforcement of the law.
We continued to address local groups
and to do outreach in March and April. In April we were alerted to research by
Harbor Branch Oceanographic researcher Brian Lapointe that the invasive algae
that he had documented on reefs off Palm Beach and Martin counties was being
carried into the Indian River Lagoon. We held an informational meeting in
conjunction with St. Lucie Conservation Alliance and invited distinguished
panelists to discuss the problem. Dr. Lapointe showed video of the offshore
infestation and presented compelling evidence that the source of the nitrogen
that is fueling the algae blooms is injected sewage from coastal communities. We
have since agreed with Surfrider Foundation and Sierra Club to challenge the
studies done on deep well injection of sewage in order to establish the safety
of the practice for our rivers and reefs. The EPA has determined that injected
sewage is migrating into our drinking water in many of the injection wells that
they studied. Challenging the nutrient pollution that fuels algae blooms and
displaces native habitat has become a major thrust of our efforts. Our River
& Reef Protection Program has three main efforts; lobbying for legislation
to prevent aquarium algae from entering our ecosystem, organizing a team to
conduct survey and removal work and legal efforts to fight nutrient overload.
In
May we held informational meetings and organized a Caulerpa Brachypus Strategic
Action Team to train to recognize and eventually remove the infestations of the
invasive algae in the lagoon.
June brought more outreach with local
groups and work on the Outdoor Eco-Classroom grant with St. Lucie County and
the school. The county assisted by publishing a bound grant document with
pictures of children in activities that we would coordinate and integrate with
the curriculum. The Indian Riverkeeper attended the Waterkeeper Alliance
Conference in
The development of a relationship
between Surfrider Foundation, Sierra Club and Indian Riverkeeper has been
central to activities over the summer. We have collectively hired John
Fritschie, an attorney from
We finally received delivery of our
boat on August 8th and while working to formulate the arrangements
between the groups involved in our deep well injection suit we managed to get
the graphics and equipment for the boat and to finally make the maiden voyage
over the Labor Day weekend. We acquired Directors and Officers Insurance in
order to protect us as we become more active and secured insurance for the boat
through Waterkeeper Alliance’s national policy. We had found insurance for our
offices in May in order to fulfill the obligations of our arrangement with the
person providing office space.
August brought increased discharges
of polluted fresh water from
In the midst of the accelerated
discharges of turbid nutrient rich water from
Indian
Riverkeeper has been found to have standing in federal court, has been found to
have suffered damages from the prolonged high water and has assembled a team of
exceptionally talented attorneys who work well together. The participation of
the
Indian Riverkeeper participated with
the Conservation Alliance of St. Lucie County in an administrative procedures
act action to ensure the proper disposal of spoil from the dredging of
Throughout the year Indian
Riverkeeper has participated in programs involving the implementation of the
Citrus Best Management Practices Program by the
Promotion
of the Indian River Lagoon Plan, the first major component of the Comprehensive
Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) has also been ongoing. We have participated
with Florida Oceanographic Society and the Rivers Coalition to encourage
citizens to write to members of Congress and to encourage passage of the Water
Resources Development Act (WRDA) 2004.
We
participated in many events in order to spread awareness of our program and to
recruit new members. We had a booth at the Martin County Fair for two weeks; at
an antique boat show; A Marine Resources Council/ Nature Conservancy joint
symposium; a Shallow Water Fishing Expo and a “Marina Mania” event. We held a
joint meeting with St. Lucie Conservation Alliance with a panel discussion on
Caulerpa Brachypus algae. We held a joint meeting with the Marine Resources
Council to form a task force to combat the spread of that invasive algae. We
had a June bar-b-que, a September Italian night and served food (The
Riverkeeper’s famous portabella mushroom sandwiches) for the Conservation
Alliance’s “Party in the Park” in November. We also held the first Indian
Riverkeeper Fishing Expo in October. The Indian Riverkeeper made appearances on
local TV and radio shows about fishing, animals and current events.
These events brought us many new
members and had a great part in the raising of over $12,000 in funds through
events and raffles. We raffled off a 16 foot Bell Canoe and a donated arcade
game.
We
received grants from the Elizabeth Ordway Dunn Foundation, The Reed Family
Foundation, the Orchard Foundation and the Curtis and Edith Munson Foundation
for a total grant funding of $37,710. Finest Kind Marine Donated funds for our
outboard motor ($8,000) and Karl Wickstrom of Florida Sportsman donated over
$6,000. We had other individual contributors who gave substantial contributions
toward a total of $29,265 in total donations. General memberships brought the
organization $12,500. We have had office space donated since May. The total
funding raised was $96,400. This figure is approximately 90% of our projection
for 2003 as established in our strategic plan.
We hope to move to new offices on the
Indian River Lagoon and have been participating in work to establish a scenic
corridor on the road surrounding the Indian River Lagoon in St. Lucie County. A
residence owned by the county is to be managed as a welcome center by the
Marine Resources Council in partnership with Indian Riverkeeper, the Corridor
Management Entity and St. Lucie County. Sharing utilities and information
technology service should benefit both operations.
We did not receive funding for the
“Outdoor Eco-Classrooms” at
We are behind projections for
membership made in our strategic plan and we have met our goals for on the
water patrolling. In order to remedy this we have contacted the Community
Foundation of Palm Beach and
(772) 336-7284