A federal judge Monday ordered the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to take a series of steps aimed at protecting manatees in the northern Indian River Lagoon, including requiring it to go through a federal permitting process and temporarily preventing new septic tanks in the area.
U.S. District Judge Carlos Mendoza also ordered establishment of programs to conduct biomedical-health assessments and supplemental feeding for manatees.
Mendoza’s order came after he ruled April 11 that the state violated the Endangered Species Act in the northern Indian River Lagoon, which is primarily in Brevard County but also goes into southern Volusia County. Mendoza sided with the environmental group Bear Warriors United, which argued that wastewater discharges into the lagoon led to the demise of seagrass, a key food source for manatees, and resulted in deaths and other harm to manatees.
While the state has appealed the April 11 ruling to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Mendoza on Monday issued a permanent injunction designed to carry out his decision.
A key part of the order is for the state to seek what is known as an “incidental take” permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. That process would include the state developing a conservation plan, which could provide “permanent protection and management of habitat for the species,” according to information about such permits on the federal agency’s website.
While the incidental-take permit request is pending, Mendoza ordered the Department of Environmental Protection to not issue permits for constructing and installing septic systems in a northern Indian River Lagoon watershed. That moratorium will start July 17 and continue until the incidental-take permit is issued, according to the order.
Septic tanks discharge nitrogen, which can cause harmful algae blooms. Bear Warriors United asked Mendoza to halt construction of new septic systems until an incidental-take permit was in place.
“New residential and commercial construction that use (septic tanks) will only exacerbate nitrogen loading into the North IRL (Indian River Lagoon),” the group’s attorneys wrote in an April 25 court document. “The court has already held that continuing high levels of nitrogen loading into the North IRL has caused the collapse of seagrasses, resulting in ongoing take of manatees that occupy the North IRL.”
But in a May 6 response, Department of Environmental Protection attorneys said such a moratorium would “improperly bind parties” that are not in the case.
The department’s attorneys wrote that Bear Warriors United was seeking an “injunction that, on its face, prohibits anyone from undertaking residential or commercial construction using onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems. Needless to say, the independent landowners and builders whose property rights would be curtailed by such an order are not parties to this action.”
Until the state receives an incidental-take permit, Mendoza also ordered the establishment of biomedical-assessment and supplemental-feeding programs for manatees in the area. He directed that the programs be overseen by “manatee experts” and that quarterly reports about the programs be made public.
Bear Warriors United filed the lawsuit in 2022, after Florida had a record 1,100 manatee deaths in 2021, with the largest number, 358, in Brevard County. Many deaths were linked to starvation.
The state had 800 manatee deaths in 2022, before the number dropped to 555 in 2023 and 565 in 2024, according to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission data. As of May 9, 363 manatees deaths had been reported this year, including 75 in Brevard County.
Manatees are classified by the federal government as a threatened species.
–Jim Saunders, News Service of Florida
Dennis C Rathsam says
As long as Ive lived in Fl, The Manatee,s have been neclected, run over, & starved. Manatee,s are the deer of the water. Curios, cute, & free. We Floridians must do what we can to help theses god created animals! The polution must stop now!
Julia LaRue says
The springs in Florida are so important to the Manatees. Parking lots should not determine how many people are allowed in to swim. There should be another way to monitor entry and use of our springs. There is NO grass in Salt Springs for the manatees to eat on. A feeble attempt is being made to grow grass in the run to the springs. On the outskirts of many boats and a gluttonous amount of humans in the spring. When will the power of entrance fees designate the killing of our springs? Common sense, please, government! The Florida state government must step in and stop this overuse. People will survive this restriction. The wildlife will not.
Laurel says
“Florida’s biggest sources of water pollution — agriculture and development — aren’t held to strict limits on the nitrogen and phosphorus that flow off sprawling farms and city streets. Chemicals spew from fertilizer and waste, eventually reaching fragile waters.” – Tampa Bay Times
The biggest polluters, besides development, were the agricultural growers. The runoff from the farms went into Lake Okeechobee, and was released by the Army Corp of Engineers and South Florida Water Management, via canals, to the Indian River Lagoon. They often did this when the lake levels were high after hurricanes and heavy storms.
“”The “Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual,” or LOSOM, was created in response to a long-time cry of injustice. That cry came from just about every environmental group involved in the Everglades restoration and resident who lives along the waterways used by the Army Corps of Engineers to lower the lake levels by releasing water filled with decades of fertilizer and urban runoff.” – South Florida Water Management District Daily Update on Lake Okeechobee https://www.swfmd.com
This runoff, along with construction runoff and improper maintenance of homeowners’ lawns created algae blooms, killing the grasses that the manatees eat. More than septic drain fields need monitoring, and the SFWMD, along with Army Corp of Engineers, are working to do just that, but we have to get over this “property rights” issue if we want to save the environment. Algae bloom are also caused by overly heated environments, and create fish kills as well, effecting fishing.
We are all in this together.
Now our part:
Do not apply herbicides, pesticides or fertilizers with rain in the forecast. Do not apply these chemicals near the edge of your yard if your yard abuts a canal, the ICW, or near a storm drain. Do not pour anything down a storm drain, it’s for rain water only. Do not place plant debris near, or on, a storm drain, or blow leaves into a drain, canal or ICW. Do not wash your car near a storm drain. Instead, wash it on your lawn.
My husband and I have reported two dead manatees in the last two years. Here in Flagler County, the ICW is very narrow. This makes it hard for the manatees to travel safely. Most boaters here are clearly oblivious to this issue, and especially on weekends, this river becomes a hazard. Again, Sunday, I watched three boats trying to pass each other, while going in the same direction. That means the boats took up the whole river width. I am amazed that people tow their kids behind their boats in these conditions! Keep an eye out for concentric circles, and just be a little more aware of your surroundings. It’s not a race!
Laurel says
Sorry, it’s http://www.sfwmd.com. I mixed up the acronym. Dyslexia and all…
laurel says
Holy sea cow, try again: http://www.sfwmd.gov