Seagrass: Are we at the tipping point?

The widespread die-off of seagrass in Florida ought to be front-page news.

And last fall it was, as Gannett’s Florida Today issued a blockbuster report on how seagrass appears to be receding in every coastal corner of Florida, at levels seldom seen before.”

The numbers are staggering:

The Indian River Lagoon lost 58% of its seagrass area since 2009, more than 46,000 acres. This was a huge factor in the record number of manatee deaths that occurred in 2021, and the near-record pace this year.
Tampa Bay lost 13% of its seagrass, more than 5,400 acres, according to the Southwest Florida Water Management District, while Sarasota Bay lost 18% of its seagrass between 2018 and 2020, more than 2,300 acres.
Since 2018, Charlotte Harbor lost 23% of its seagrass, some 4,500 acres. Nearby Lemon Bay also lost about 12% of its seagrasses since 2018, according to the Southwest Florida Water Management District.
In South Florida, hot and salty conditions helped trigger the demise of as much as 10,000 acres of seagrass in western Florida Bay.

The main culprit: Poor water quality — a situation that can get even worse as seagrass dies off.

Some 2.5 million acres of seagrass is thought to remain in Florida’s nearshore waters; it remains a key to the state’s biological diversity and economic vitality, as every 2.5 acres supports about 100,000 fish, 100 million invertebrates like worms and clams and creates up to $10,000 in economic activity.

The loss of this invaluable resource is a cascading crisis that needs to be high on the state legislature’s agenda in 2023. Lawmakers need to first stop the bleeding by rejecting measures that could make the situation worse - such as the “seagrass mitigation banking” bill likely to be resurrected after failing to advance in each of the past two sessions.

But the tougher task involves improving water quality. In a state where “non-point” pollution dumps so many nutrients into our water, where aging infrastructure damaged by storms like Hurricane Ian can spill millions of gallons of raw sewage into already-compromised waterways, it’s a huge mountain to climb.

But with the Environmental Protection Agency’s determination earlier this month that Florida must toughen water quality standards to meet Clean Water Act standards and protect citizens’ health, lawmakers have a key opportunity to make Florida into a leader on water quality standards — rather than a laggard falling ever behind as seagrass, manatees and ultimately Florida’s way of life dies off.

VoteWater Deep Dives take a deeper look at individual issues plaguing Florida waterways. Read our latest blog to find out why Florida seagrass is rapidly approaching a death spiral, why simply planting more isn't the answer and what upcoming legislation could take the situation from bad to worse.

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