Banana River Water Quality
Urbanized North Banana River suffers from excessive nutrient pollution caused by stormwater laden with lawn fertilizer, sewer seepage, and pet poop. Atmospheric pollution from a booming population's need for internal combustion engines also adds to the lagoon's nutrient load.
Water Quality Pattern
April - June
- Summer rains bring nutrient laden stormwater into the lagoon.
- Water clarity declines.
June-September
- Algae thrives on the excess nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients, creating massive blue-green blooms that block sunlight from the seagrass.
- Water becomes pea soup green.
- Decomposition of dead seagrass and algae consumes the water's oxygen and kills marine life.
- Protein molecules decomposing algae, seagrass and fish are attracted to both water and air, and when agitated by wind, create a smelly, dark foam on the lagoon's surface and shorelines.
October - December
- Summer rain's end, cooler temperatures, and winds disperse the biological mass. Much of it settles to the bottom creating slimy, black muck.
- Water is murky brown with very low clarity.
- Oxygen and salinity levels improve.
January-March
- Water clears up revealing a lifeless, barren desert below.
- Manatees move into the lagoon's warm water and graze on the remaining seagrass.
Water Quality Standards
Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has determined that seagrass is the key indicator species representing the health of the lagoon's water. Seagrass provides habitat for shrimp, clam, and crab, these species feed fish that are using the seagrass flats as a nursery. Without seagrass there is no next generation of marine life in the lagoon!
Banana River Nutrient Load
The DEP has revised the Banana River nutrient load allocations for the 2021 Basin Management Action Plan (BMAP) update.
Local municipalities will be asked to lower Nitrogen (N) and Phosphorus (P) loads to a level that promotes healthy seagrass growth in the lagoon.
