Indian River Lagoon Facts

Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Quick Facts and Statistics

• Banana River, Indian River, and Mosquito Lagoon were recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency as an Estuary of National Significance and placed in the National Estuary Program in 1990. The Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program is managed by the Indian River Lagoon Council, a special district of the State of Florida.

• The 156 mile long Indian River Lagoon National Estuary watershed covers an area of 2,284 square miles with 353 square miles of water surface area.

• The national estuary spans six Florida East Coast counties: Volusia, Brevard, Indian River, St. Lucie, Martin, and Palm Beach County. 71% of the national estuary lies within Brevard County.

• Ocean inlet saltwater mixes with freshwater tributaries to make the brackish water found in the national estuary's Mosquito, Banana River, and Indian River lagoons.

• Regardless of the name, the estuary's main water bodies are not actual rivers with a directional current, they are still water lagoons whose only movement is provided by wind and some minor tidal influence around the inlets.

• Five saltwater Atlantic Ocean inlets including Ponce de Leon, Sebastian, Ft. Pierce, St. Lucie, and Jupiter inlets are within the Indian River Lagoon estuary. Ponce de Leon and Jupiter are natural inlets, the other three are man-made cuts through the barrier island.

• Freshwater tributaries feeding the Indian River Lagoon include the Eau Gallie, St. Sebastian, St. Lucie, and Loxahatchee rivers.

• The national estuary has a 4ft average depth with large shallow flats under 2ft deep. Dredged channels, basins, and canals are deeper. The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) channel is maintained at an average 10-12ft depth by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

• The Indian River Lagoon watershed is home to more than 2,100 different species of plants and more than 2,200 animal species, including some 700 fish species and 310 bird species.

• Approximately 50 threatened or endangered species can be found in the IRL region, including 12 plants and 36 animals.

• The national estuary contains 27% of eastern Florida’s coastal salt marshes.

• 46% of the 2007 maximum seagrass coverage remains in 2020. Seagrass is considered to be the estuary's keystone water quality indicator species.

• The Indian River Lagoon fishery generates $30 million in revenues, providing 50% of the annual fish harvest on Florida's East Coast.

• The overall economic value of the Indian River Lagoon National Estuary was estimated at $7.6 billion in 2014.