lagoon problems Melbourne Merritt Island (Palm Bay, Port Charlotte: real estate, houses, subdivisions)

[jmgator02]

Have been looking to move to Melbourne Merritt Island area but we are worried about problems with the water quality and effect on outdoor activities and housing values. Input wanted.

[clnewman]

Not really any issues on Merritt Island. We get our water from the City of Cocoa water system. Haven't had an issue in the 2.5 years we've been here.

[Nypafl4u]

Originally Posted by jmgator02

Have been looking to move to Melbourne Merritt Island area but we are worried about problems with the water quality and effect on outdoor activities and housing values. Input wanted.

If you are referring the natural waterways, for the most part they are fine. There have been some past issues with run off of fertilizer laced water that causes some brown water, that killed off fish, but it was corrected. If people work together and stop using chemical fertilizers on their lawn (and farms), it would make our waterways more healthy for the future. I don't see this being a burden for real estate now or in the foreseeable future.

I would think water activities should be OK as well. I have kayaked with my family on several occasions in Palm Bay/Melbourne area. Saw lots of birds, manateess (came right up to our Kayak) and fish jumping. I think if the water was that bad, we would seen nothing living. Plenty of fish is a good thing.

[Rabflmom]

Originally Posted by Nypafl4u

If you are referring the natural waterways, for the most part they are fine. There have been some past issues with run off of fertilizer laced water that causes some brown water, that killed off fish, but it was corrected. If people work together and stop using chemical fertilizers on their lawn (and farms), it would make our waterways more healthy for the future. I don't see this being a burden for real estate now or in the foreseeable future.

I would think water activities should be OK as well. I have kayaked with my family on several occasions in Palm Bay/Melbourne area. Saw lots of birds, manateess (came right up to our Kayak) and fish jumping. I think if the water was that bad, we would seen nothing living. Plenty of fish is a good thing.

Actually they are still trying to save it. There's even a 1/2 cent tax on the ballot to get money to help clean the Indian River Lagoon.

Will it effect the OPs water to his house? No. None of the city water supply comes from the lagoon.
Will it effect you if you build a house? It may because there are too many septic tanks in the county and towns.

Does it effect recreation? Not sure I would eat any fish taken out of the lagoon right now. Still have the ocean and freshwater areas for fishing to bring home to eat. Still fun to catch and release from the river.

We have not killed the water yet, but it is damaged. Used to see dolphins everywhere but rarely see them in the lagoon now. Same for the shark. We have not had fish kills in the Melbourne area as much as they did in Central and Northern Brevard, but we still need to work on healing what is wrong. I miss seeing dolphins!

Boating, board sailing etc. still fun in the water but not if you have any scrapes or cuts etc. that could become infected with flesh eating orgs. etc. Personally wouldn't swim or water ski but the sons still body board with the wave runners.

[Nypafl4u]

We did see a good amount of dolphins on our last trip in August by 528 causeways. In fact we went looking for them in the early evening as we would see them while driving and just pulled over (where it was safe to do and off the road) to watch them. We counted about 15 over a two day period. That was after the last fish kill, so I just assumed things got better. I wonder if it is worse further south?

[Rabflmom]

Originally Posted by Nypafl4u

We did see a good amount of dolphins on our last trip in August by 528 causeways. In fact we went looking for them in the early evening as we would see them while driving and just pulled over (where it was safe to do and off the road) to watch them. We counted about 15 over a two day period. That was after the last fish kill, so I just assumed things got better. I wonder if it is worse further south?

Whole county. Whole lagoon. Not heeled yet. There has been signs of improvement. Grasses still dying in the river because sun not able to get to it through the darker polluted water so major food source and oxygen levels are not back yet. Adding clams to help clean it up has helped but still has a long way to go . Hope people are voting for the 1/2 cent and we can clean up the septics polluting it. Banning fertilizers for yards has helped too, but they were saying the run-off from hurricane has not helped and may have made it worse.

You were really pretty lucky to see 15 dolphins. I think we have seen that many in the lagoon in the last 2 years.

[Nypafl4u]

Very sad to hear this. I am sure the Huricane didn't help. Think of all chemicals that likely got washed into the water from homes and businesses. I still believe people will come to realize how important these natural resources are and do their part to keep the improvements up.
We are planning for a a quick two trip down to Cocoa Beach in early December. Will have a chance to do some driving around and see the current status.

[Rabflmom]

Originally Posted by Rabflmom

Whole county. Whole lagoon. Not heeled yet. There has been signs of improvement. Grasses still dying in the river because sun not able to get to it through the darker polluted water so major food source and oxygen levels are not back yet. Adding clams to help clean it up has helped but still has a long way to go . Hope people are voting for the 1/2 cent and we can clean up the septics polluting it. Banning fertilizers for yards has helped too, but they were saying the run-off from hurricane has not helped and may have made it worse.

You were really pretty lucky to see 15 dolphins. I think we have seen that many in the lagoon in the last 2 years.

Sorry not adding clam beds I meant oyster beds to help filter the water. Unfortunately some were lost again in Mathew. It is a work in progress.

Growth is part of the problem. Too many old septic tanks allowed and need to be replaced. Even though it would make it more expensive for builders to build subdivisions it would help if they were to pay more for the infa structures needed to get sewer systems built. I think we need to make it more expensive to live here and slow down the growth till everyone can be tied to city systems. Problem is existing houses would also have to come up with $10,000-15000 each to convert their homes to a sewer system or put in the newer better type septic systems which they will not want to do. .
And then we have the towns that by accident have allowed sewage to flow into the lagoon. We need to make sure we monitor more closely.

[jmgator02]

Thank you. We are definitely interested in saving the lagoon. Will remember these factors when searching for a home

[Nypafl4u]

I would have gladly paid (for my property at least) the $8,000 we heard it would cost in Palm Bay to connect had it been available. It cost me that much to redo my drain field anyway. The difference in my case, we would have been extra monthly or quarterly bills for that connection. But the issue there was that my neck of the woods had no infrastructure or no way to connect. I do know had it been available to connect to, then I would have had no choice but to connect. My septic company would not have been issued a permit to do the work by the county had the connections been available. So if the infrastructure is there and eventually, all systems will fail at some point, then the connection would be done, slowly but eventually.

So to me, the real challenge is who is paying for the infastructure to be built? I am sure that has been a contested issue that likely falls apart when raised. I am not one for higher taxes and I know down on the west coast in Port Charlotte, they did charge a tax assessment, payable over 20 years (like $500 a year estra on their real estate tax) to upgrade the infrastrucure. It has been a mess of delays, over spending, miss management of the money collected and more threats of increased cost as the project continues. Very scary stuff and a sign that these things can be problematic when actually putting this into action.

Not sure of the answer but I like the idea of developers having to foot that cost before a sub division can be built. Slowing population growth into the area may have some merits, but I guarantee the state and counties want the increased tax revenue supplied by this growth. In a perfect world, that would cover the costs of building the much needed infrastructure.