WATCH: Brevard County Conducting Survey to Learn More About How Residents Interact with Lagoon

Save Our Indian River Lagoon Program

WATCH: Brandon Smith, a member of the Save Our Indian River Lagoon Program, and Becky Clarkson, the Special Projects Coordinator at Brevard County Natural Resources Management Department, discuss an update about a survey of the Indian River Lagoon. CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE SURVEY

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Brandon Smith, a member of the Save Our Indian River Lagoon Program, and Becky Clarkson, the Special Projects Coordinator at Brevard County Natural Resources Management Department, discussed an update about a survey of the Indian River Lagoon Thursday at the Space Coast Daily–Friday Night Locker Room Erdman Automotive Studios.

Brevard County is conducting a survey to learn more about how residents interact with the Indian River Lagoon. Information collected in this survey will be used to inform educational and outreach activities throughout Brevard County.

Your input is very valuable to Brevard County. Please allow 7 minutes to complete this survey. Participation is completely voluntary and all responses are anonymous and will not be connected to identifying information.

CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE SURVEY

The Save Our Indian River Lagoon Program was created as part of a ½ cent sales tax that Brevard County residents voted to impose on themselves in 2016.

The program is designed to address excess nitrogen and phosphorus pollution to the Indian River Lagoon through various projects to reduce pollution inputs, remove legacy loads of pollution, and restore natural filtration systems.

It is estimated that the plan will bring in up to $484 million in revenue over 10 years to fund projects that will reduce or remove about 1.3 million pounds of excess nitrogen and 106 thousand pounds of phosphorus annually from the Indian River Lagoon.

The projects being completed by the Save Our Indian River Lagoon Program are just one part of restoring the Indian River Lagoon.

The National Estuary Program, St Johns River Water Management District, Brevard County and the cities have been working on stormwater improvements since the 1990s.

Currently, new technologies are being incorporated to improve stormwater and wastewater utilities.

The lagoon will also need the assistance of the community to help reduce the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus created by homes and businesses. Learn more on how to reduce your personal impact by visiting the Lagoon Loyal website.

Brevard Indian River Lagoon Coalition Launching ‘Love It Like A Local – Be Lagoon-Friendly’

Every year thousands of people relocate to Brevard County, attracted by our natural environment, job opportunities and relaxed lifestyle

The Brevard Indian River Lagoon Coalition is launching “Love It Like A Local – Be Lagoon-Friendly,” a new program that reaches out to new homeowners through their Realtors and employers.

The goal of the project is to engage the public in ways that lead to lagoon-friendly practices and “hands-on” volunteer, educational and social opportunities that help citizens and communities become informal ambassadors for a healthful lagoon.

Coming from other areas and states, newcomers may not be aware of how their daily activities impact the Indian River Lagoon and our waterways: from lawn clippings to fertilizer use, stormwater runoff, native plantings, natural shorelines, and septic systems.

Love It Like A Local – Be Lagoon-Friendly will initially target newcomers moving to single-family homes; these new residents will have the greatest impact due to behaviors (positive or negative) related to fertilizer, grass clippings, pesticides, septic maintenance and shoreline hardening.

Even simple things like disposing of cooking grease and dog waste can have a negative impact if not done properly.

WATCH: The Brevard Indian River Lagoon Coalition is launching “Love It Like A Local – Be Lagoon-Friendly,” a new program that reaches out to new homeowners through their Realtors and employers.

“Our community treasures this unique natural resource and we want our new residents to “love it like a local,” and feel like insiders from day one,” says Vince Lamb, chair of the Brevard Indian River Lagoon Coalition.

Partnering with the Space Coast Association of Realtors and Coalition Partners, the program will engage newcomers via social media as well as digital and print media from their personal Realtor, often their first trusted advisor.

After the initial chaos of moving in (and lessening of Covid-19), new residents will be invited to attend Coalition-sponsored Lagoon and Lager’s events at local Brevard breweries, lagoon-focused festivals, and the Coalition”s Lagoon Straight Talk forums.

These popular events will give newcomers the venue to meet new people and connect with groups offering volunteer opportunities in a relaxed venue. Ongoing connections through email, social media and event reminders will help these new residents stay up to date.

“Love It Like a Local” is funded by the Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program small grants program.

For more information, visit www.HelpTheLagoon.org

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