Fertilizer Guidelines Proposed
for Tampa Bay Region

Four workshops coordinated by the Tampa Bay Estuary Program earlier this year resulted in a series of recommendations for fertilization guidelines developed with input from local government stormwater and environmental managers, environmentalists, water quality and red tide researchers, the extension/horticultural research community, and members of the lawn care industry.

TBEP staff is currently developing a model ordinance based on the recommendations and will present the results to elected officials through the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council at its November meeting.

The first three workshops focused on guidelines for application, with a final workshop on brainstorming education strategies. Key recommendations from the group include:

• All employees of lawn and landscape maintenance companies should receive appropriate training in best management practices with a regional license or certificate available so companies would not have to earn multiple certifications.
  
  
• Fertilizer should not be applied within 10 feet of a waterway (defined as a bay, river, lake, stream, pond,
  canal, wetland or any other water body), unless a deflector shield is used.
  
  
• Waterfront property owners should be encouraged to establish a 6-foot low-maintenance or “no mow” zone  of plants.
  
  
• Fertilizer guidelines should encourage the use of trained, certified professionals to apply fertilizer.
  
  
• Controlling spillage of fertilizer and organic debris on non-vegetated areas is critical to protectin g water quality.
  
  
• No phosphorous fertilizer should be applied at any time of year in the Tampa Bay region without a soil test showing a phosphorous deficiency.

While the diverse organizations participating in the workshops agreed on most topics, they could not come to a consensus on application timing. A variety of options were finally reduced to two choices. A straw vote taken on these alternatives showed 17 organizations in favor of a ban on application of nitrogen fertilizer to residential lawns from June 1-Sept. 30 with 11 votes for allowing a one-time application of slow-release nitrogen from June 1-Sept. 30 after a professional had determined a nitrogen deficiency.

For the complete report, visit http://www.tbeptech.org/Fertilizer/Res%20Fertilizer%20final%20report-August%2014_%202008.pdf

Power from Poop

The city of Sanford and the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association in Ocala are teaming up with a Texas company to build facilities that convert bio-waste into fuel.

Sanford will be the first municipality in North America to adopt the MaxWest gasification system that converts sewage sludge into green energy. “Compared to the projected cost of natural gas, Sanford will save $9,000,000 over the 20-year life of our contract,” said Paul Moore, director of Sanford Utility. “This technology has provided us with the opportunity to save money while managing our waste stream and protecting the environment.”

In Ocala, a $35 million plant is expected to turn excess manure from the region’s horse farms into enough power to supply nearly 1500 homes with electricity.

The process works in a closed gasification chamber without combustion. Biowastes are heated to about 1400 degrees, reducing the material to ash and creating carbon monoxide, methane and hydrogen. The Sanford plant will use those gases to power its driers, but the larger Ocala plant is expected to produce excess energy to power nearby homes.

Approximately 100,000 tons of horse waste will be trucked from farms, training centers and other equine facilities across Marion County to a site owned and managed by the partnership. The manure will be mixed with wood waste and then gasified in an integrated gasification system to produce renewable thermal energy, which will then be used to produce “green” electric power for sale to the power grid.

Both sewage sludge and horse waste have traditionally been spread upon farms and pastures, but they contain high levels of nutrients as well as methane, a potent greenhouse gas.

ABM Recognizes Frank Sargeant

Frank Sargeant, outdoor columnist at The Tampa Tribune since 1984, was recognized by the Agency on Bay Management and formally thanked for teaching people about Tampa Bay and the region’s natural resources.

“While sportsmen thought they were finding the secrets to catching fish, they were often learning about the places those fish need to grow up and feed - the value of the seagrass beds and marshes, and of water quality and fresh water supplies,” said Suzanne Cooper, ABM’s principal planner. “You have a way of fooling them into thinking they are being told about which lures or bait to use when they are actually being taught to love and take care of our environment.”
Sargeant retired from the Tribune earlier this year, but will continue to write special features for the Tribune and become a guest columnist for Bay Soundings in 2009.

New Study Points to Agriculture in Frog Sexual Abnormalities

A farm irrigation canal would seem a healthier place for toads than a ditch by a supermarket parking lot. But University of Florida scientists have found the opposite is true. In a study with wide implications in the longstanding debate over whether agricultural chemicals pose a threat to amphibians, UF zoologists have found that toads in suburban areas are less likely to suffer from reproductive system abnormalities than toads near farms.

“As you increase agriculture,” said Lou Guillette, a professor of zoology, “you have an increasing number of abnormalities.”

The UF study is the first peer-reviewed study to compare abnormalities in wild toads – toads are a variety of frogs — from heavily farmed areas with frogs from both partially farmed and completely suburban areas. In so doing, it highlights the difference between the impact of agriculture versus development.

The researchers gathered giant toads, known scientifically as Bufo marinus, from five sites in Florida. While Bufo marinus is an invasive species that is deadly to small animals, the researchers studied the toad because they are easy to catch and their large size ensures enough blood for analysis.

Examination of the euthanized toads revealed a pattern: The more agricultural the land where they lived, the more sexual organ abnormalities or so-called “intersex” toads — toads that have both female and male internal reproductive organs, not a normal condition for this species of amphibians.

The researchers say the study’s results may have important implications not only for other wild species, but also for people. “What we are finding in Bufo marinus might also occur in other animals, including other amphibian species and humans,” said Krista McCoy, the lead author who completed the research as part of her doctoral dissertation.

Contribute Online!

Tampa Bay residents can now contribute to ongoing efforts to restore and protect the bay through Tampa Bay Estuary Program’s website at www.tbep.org. Donations are processed through PayPal, a secure online payment processing system and all donations to TBEP are tax-deductible.

Contributions will help continue the successful restoration of Tampa Bay, Florida’s largest open-water estuary, and one of only 28 specially designated Estuaries of National Significance in the United States. Become a partner with TBEP by helping to fund award-winning community outreach and watershed-based management programs, including:

• The annual Estuary Academy for citizens
  
  
• “Give A Day For The Bay” volunteer workdays
  
  
• Production of a wide variety of educational materials provided free to the public, including the popular series of Boater’s Guides to Tampa Bay, the Ethical Angler Wallet Card, and the Field Guide to Invasive Plants
  
  
• Summer teacher workshops that bring Tampa Bay into the classroom
  
  
• Special symposiums on timely bay issues and new research
  
  
• Innovative pilot projects to test restoration techniques
  
  
• Special campaigns such as the “Pooches for the Planet” pet waste education program
  
  

Increased Withdrawals from the Alafia River Approved

The Southwest Florida Water Management District has extended an emergency authorization that allows Tampa Bay Water to withdraw additional water from the Alafia River because the utility cannot use the full storage capacity of the C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir.

The reservoir only has about 6.5 billion gallons in storage to facilitate inspection and investigation of the reservoir’s soil cement layer. When full, the reservoir stores approximately 15 billion gallons of water.

The order allows Tampa Bay Water to take up to 19% of the flow from the Alafia River instead of its current limit of 10% through Dec. 31 instead of expiring in September. However, withdrawals are not allowed when the average daily flow is less than 124 cubic feet per second.