Cleaning up canals could help Fort Myers Beach water quality

The town could help clean up water by starting with its own back yards.

Did you know the town has a fertilizer ordinance that should regulate the fertilizers used on properties within town limits? Members of the Marine Resources Task Force doubt it's widely-known - or widely followed.

Tackling a stricter fertilizer ordinance will be one of the suggestions the committee plans to make to the Town of Fort Myers Beach to help improve water quality in the island canals.

According to the ordinance, fertilizer containing nitrogen and phosphorus cannot be applied between June 1 and Sept. 30 or applied on impervious surface, for example. Any "violation" of the ordinance would be dealt with by special magistrate as a code violation.

However, MRTF members found multiple sections of the fertilizer ordinance to be below the standard of other surrounding island communities, such as a "voluntary" application distance of six feet from a water body and a mandatory three-foot buffer between application and a water body.