John’s Island Water Management (a private company in operation solely for the John’s Island community and it's golf courses) is pressing Indian River County for a highly controversial easement over Hole-in-the-Wall Island despite the easement having been flatly rejected by the island’s owner.
The proposal of the John’s Island wastewater effluent pipeline to be constructed under and across the Lagoon is an environmental risk to the estuary both in its construction and operation. This risk can be easily be avoided by connecting to infrastructure that is already in place.
How can you help?
1. Attend in opposition, the Indian River County Commission Meeting Tuesday, April 23, at 9 a.m.
(Plan to arrive early to start a line to insure you can get inside the space to support this cause. The room only accommodates 200.)
2. Send a letter/email to the Indian River County Commissioners telling them your concerns and asking them to reject this highly controversial easement for the misguided construction of the John’s Island wastewater effluent pipeline. You can find an example letter by clicking the "Learn More" button below.
3. Inform your lagoon loving friends, family, work groups, government leaders, local business partners, and non-profit organizations to garner more support!
Click the button below for more information.
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Spirits are High at 2019 MRC Conservation Awards Dinner!
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Nicole Mader, Maggy Hurchalla, Naia Mader, & Mark Perry
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Thank you to all of the sponsors, guest speakers, attendees, staff, and volunteers of the 2019 MRC Conservation Achievement Awards Dinner at the Hilton Melbourne Beach Oceanfront! We had a spectacular evening filled with fine dining and amazing Lagoon advocates. This celebration of Lagoon Heroes raised over $17,000 in pledges and donations for MRC's work to improve the water quality of our estuary. Congratulations to all the nominees and award winners. The Lagoon Loves You!
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Climate Change: How Will Brevard Fare?
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A report released by the Brookings Institution in January predicts that many Florida cities will be the hardest hit by the impacts of climate change. The report uses the Climate Impact Lab's county-by-county statistics, noting impacts such as agricultural yields, deaths, coastal damage and risks to job markets, to quantify the impacts of climate change. Maps were created showing the costs of climate change across the U.S. Florida was the most impacted state with climate-related costs coming in at about 12% of the 2012 state income. Metropolitan areas were also ranked by those areas with the most costs from climate change to the least. In the rankings, eight out of the top ten areas were Florida cities. Of those eight Florida cities, the Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville area came in at number seven with climate-related costs at 12.8% of the 2012 metropolitan area income. The report also focuses heavily on the division of political parties regarding climate change policy and how that will play a role in the future.
Click here
to read the full article about Florida impacts from FloridaPolitics.com.
Click here
to read the full report from the Brookings Institution.
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Spoil Island Survey Volunteers Needed!
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Wouldn't you like to spend a day on the Lagoon, interviewing Spoil Islands visitors? Joins in on MRC's newest volunteer program to conduct user surveys' of people who are using spoil islands. Survey results will help the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Aquatic Preserves revise their current Spoil Island management plan. Bring a lunch and some sunscreen for a day out on the water with MRC to survey island users! Seeking boats and people willing to do interviews.
If you are interested, please email
Caity Savoia
at Caity@mrcirl.org.
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May Lunch Lecture Series
Viera: Past, Present and Future
Todd Pokyrwa, President
The Viera Company
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May 7, 2019
12 p.m. to 1 p.m.
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Join us at MRC's May Brown Bag lunch to learn about Viera - past, present, and future. Todd Pokyrwa, Viera's President, is a planner who has been involved in several of Florida's Conservation-oriented master-planned communities. He will talk about how Viera grew from an agricultural area known as the Cocoa Ranch, to today’s bustling center of neighborhoods, commercial areas, and infrastructure. See Viera’s plans for the future as it grows beyond its current boundaries, while incorporating environmental stewardship and conservation design principles.
Click the button below to register.
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MRC Summer Camp Registration Open!
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Join us in our discovery of the Indian River Lagoon! Campers will participate in a variety of exciting activities aimed to educate them about our local ecosystem and give them hands-on interaction with the species living within it!
Get ready for a week full of new friendships and fun in the sun!
Open to children ages 8 to 11.
Location: Lagoon House, 3275 Dixie Hwy NE, Palm Bay, FL 32905
Session 1: June 10-14 from 9 a.m to 1 p.m.
Session 2: June 24-28 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
During each session, we'll be:
- Testing water quality
- Learning about recycling and how to make recycled paper
- Planting mangroves along the shoreline of spoil islands
- Meeting some of the local wildlife
- Making a shelter and tools using Ais Indian techniques
- Learning about bees as pollinators
- And much more!
To register, click the button below.
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Join MRC at Cocoa Beach Uncorked 2019!
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Saturday, April 27th and Sunday, April 28th from 10am to 4:30pm
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Help us make this years Cocoa Beach Uncorked a success! We are calling on our MRC supporters to volunteer for this event. For every volunteer, the event will donate $100 to MRC! Volunteer tasks include check in, set up, food distribution, VIP tent, and ticket sales, and more. We only need 10 more volunteers for Sunday, 4/28/19.
Come enjoy a day on the beach while giving back to the Lagoon!
For more information or to sign up to volunteer, click the button below!
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May 4:
Mangrove Workshop: For Info Contact Caity@mrcirl.org
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