STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• iPod friendly
• Printer friendly

More Environment

• South Florida Watershed Journal: The hare that breaks the camel's back
• Rookery Bay’s efforts to protect threatened sea turtles result in increased hatchling success
• Mold, mosquitoes among Fay’s parting gifts

Share and Enjoy [?]

Part of the reason local streams and rivers are in trouble and coastal waterways are beset by algae blooms is in our own backyard.

Literally.

Lee County commissioners will follow the cities of Naples and Sanibel and Sarasota County Tuesday evening when they are expected to adopt an ordinance limiting the use of fertilizer and requiring training and certification of those who apply it.

Commissioners were ready to adopt an ordinance before Christmas, but sent it back to the drawing board to make is stricter.

It is stricter. Or it might be.

“The original proposal had a lot of things I didn’t agree with,” said landscape architect and horticulturalist Sue Peaslee.

In gated communities, turf is often planted right up to the banks of the waterbodies, Peaslee said. Residents want those areas to stay green, too.

“I’m not sure these things are being thought out,” she said.

Peaslee said she thinks the county may be targeting the wrong source.

“A lot of this is singing to the choir,” said Peaslee, herself a member of the Sierra Club and World Wildlife Foundation. “I’m a certified horticultural professional. I’ve got a pesticide license. I’ve got a college degree. People that are professionals already do the job and do the job the way it should be done.”

Nevertheless, those professionals would have to be trained to use county-approved practices and receive certification once a year.

Other parts of the ordinance would cap the use of nitrogen at no more than 4 pounds for every 1,000 square feet annually. Phosphorous use would be capped at a quarter-pound for every 1,000 square feet annually.

No fertilizer at all would be allowed within 10 feet of a water body, seawall or wetland. A properly-screened spreader could work within three feet. No application would be allowed from June through September to prevent runoff during the rainy season.

Lee Commission Chairman Ray Judah said he thinks the ordinance is ready for approval.

“We’re a whole lot closer to the kind of proactive steps we need to take to prevent nutrient loading in our waterways,” he said.

The buffers are necessary to keep nutrients away from the water, Judah said.

“We’re trying to encourage native landscaping between the waterbodies and the turf,” he said. “They might need to reconsider a native buffer there to trap the nutrients.”

David Erickson is president of BioGreen. The company uses a “bio-based” product with zero phosphorous and minimal nitrogen, and its process has earned an exception from the Naples ordinance.

“People are always looking for reasons to go green, and this fertilizer restriction is a good thing,” he said. “It’s definitely going to help the environment.”

Erickson said he understands resistance from landscapers, but the new standards shouldn’t be a problem.

“If you’re doing it right for the plants you’re not impacting the water body,” he said.

Peaslee said that those who already follow the rules won’t have a problem with the new ones, but fly-by-night operations will continue to duck them.

“People that aren’t licensed will still be under the radar,” she said. “The way we feel is people that don’t follow the rules are going to have the better-looking landscapes.”

High nutrient levels have been found in area streams and rivers, several of which remain on state lists of impaired waterways. Scientists believe high nutrient levels contribute to algae blooms like those that have fouled coastal estuaries here.

Locals have pointed fingers at Lake Okeechobee releases, but some scientists say a full third of the nutrient load comes from the local watershed.

Commissioners will consider the ordinance after a public hearing scheduled for 5 p.m. It will take place at the Old Lee County Courthouse in downtown Fort Myers.