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Tag: Manatee County water

Manatee County makes strides in improving water quality

Written by Leslie Lake on . Posted in Outdoors, Water Quality.

Manatee County – Local water quality is improving through the efforts of Manatee County environmental staff, according to the county’s Natural Resources Director Charlie Hunsicker.

“Our people in water quality and environmental protection are working hard every day,” Hunsicker told commissioners on Jan. 23. “And with our utility partners and public works partners, we are working to protect the water quality in Manatee County.”

Hunsicker said water is monitored at more than 80 sites around the county, with more than 11,000 samples being tested annually.

“Manatee County is working hard to always observe where we are in our water-quality picture,” he said.

Hunsicker presented numerous charts showing county efforts to maintain water quality that include:

• Wastewater treatment upgrades ($600 million invested over the next five years);

• Increased street sweeping;

• 5,000 seagrass plugs planted;

• 25,000 trees planted in 2023;

• 15,000 acres of habitat restored; and

• 1,500 vertical oyster gardens installed.

“More than 18 million gallons of water were saved last year alone in water irrigation efficiencies (through the IFAS University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences),” he said.

Hunsicker said 114,262 acres of seagrass off the coast of Manatee County in Sarasota Bay and the Gulf of Mexico are dependent on water quality.

“We also have storm sampling for bacteria,” Hunsicker said. “Last year and the years before we were faced with possible closures of our recreational beaches along the Gulf because of bacteriological readings that were taken around Palma Sola Bay and assumptions made by the health department that contamination extended throughout the entire county. We were able to respond to them and keep our beaches open and to prove and demonstrate with our own sampling efforts that bacteria were not affecting the Gulf beaches of Anna Maria Island.”

“This is really important, and it is of major concern to our residents,” Manatee County District 5 Commissioner Ray Turner said.

Commissioners praised the Natural Resources staff for being stewards of voter-supported efforts to purchase more preservation land through the County’s Environmental Lands Management and Acquisition Committee (ELMAC).

“I hope the board hears that the investments the county is making into natural resources is bearing fruit,” District 3 Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge said.

Group disputes county claim that drinking water remains safe

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Manatee County.

MANATEE COUNTY – A blue-green algae outbreak reported last week at Lake Manatee, the county’s primary drinking water reservoir, has prompted a local water quality watchdog group to question Manatee County’s claim that the water is safe, despite discoloration and an unusual odor.

In a July 19 press release, Suncoast Waterkeeper members noted that the blue-green algae, known as Anabaena or Microcystin-LR, is a cyanotoxin that may be safe from a regulatory standpoint, but not necessarily from a health standpoint.

County says blue-green algae in water ‘safe’
Water straight from a faucet in Manatee County shows water that county officials say is “safe” for consumption. Large particles of unknown material came out of the faucet along with the water. – Kristin Swain | Sun

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, elevated levels of cyanotoxins, including Anabaena, can cause health issues in humans ranging from a rash to liver and kidney damage if ingested. The most common health effects in humans include abdominal pain, headache, sore throat, vomiting, nausea, dry cough, diarrhea, blistering around the mouth and pneumonia. Continually ingesting drinking water contaminated with elevated levels of the bacteria can lead to liver and kidney damage. Anyone experiencing any of the symptoms after coming into contact with the toxin should seek medical treatment immediately and rinse off with clean water.

The EPA also warns that pets, livestock and other animals also can be adversely affected by coming into contact with contaminated water. Symptoms of cyanotoxin poisoning in animals include excessive salivating, fatigue, difficulty breathing, vomiting, diarrhea and seizures. In some severe cases, exposure can also lead to death.

In the water where the blue-green algae bloom occurs, plant and animal life may also die both during and after the bloom, resulting in fish kills in the county’s primary water supply.

County leaders say they’re treating the water with activated carbon and that anyone who is concerned about the smell or taste of the water should use a carbon filter at home.

To learn more about Anabaena and how it can affect your health, visit www.epa.gov/cyanohabs.