Calusa Waterkeeper

~ RISING TIDE ~

Calusa Waterkeeper Newsletter | April 2019

The Big Calusa

A Week-Long Celebration of the Caloosahatchee River
April 22 - 28 | Lee County, FL

We will reconnect the community with our waterways in a positive manner and celebrate all the reasons we love our region – for its exceptional beaches, rivers and tributaries, its boundless recreational opportunities and its sheer beauty. Learn more about The Big Calusa

Sign-up to Volunteer

Register Now for Big Calusa Events!

The Big Calusa Kickoff Party

Millenial Brewing, Fort Myers

Monday, April 22nd | 5:30 - 8:30 PM

Clean-up Crews and Racers can Signup at this Free Event

RSVP Now

Live music, food trucks, a signature “Big Calusa” micro-brew, silent auction, and official Big Calusa merchandise, plus a chance to meet the Waterkeeper!

Calusa Clean-Up

Partnering with Keep Lee County Beautiful

Monday, April 22 - Sunday, April 28

Contact Mike Thomas to register your team or organization for clean-up:

[email protected]

Clean-up of our waterways working with Kayak Outfitters, the public, schools, churches and civic organizations. Clean-up Champions will be awarded on Sunday, April 28th.

Calusa Culture Night

Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center, Fort Myers

Wednesday, April 24th | 5:30 - 9:00 PM

Please Purchase Tickets in Advance

Get Tickets

Join us for story-telling with several local talents along with exclusive artwork by Myra Roberts and Paul Arsenault plus music by Roots 2 Vines and more “Big Calusa” beer.

Powell Creek March Tours

Powell Creek Marsh, Fort Myers

Friday, April 26th | 8:00 AM & 10:00 AM

Contact Jason Boeckman at 239-204-1125 to reserve your spot on this uinque tour. Learn More

Organized by Lee County Natural Resources and Parks & Recreation's Conservation 20/20 Departments.

Kayak & Paddle Board Races

Big Calusa Race for Clean Water

Saturday, April 27th | 7:00 - 10:00 AM

Register in Advance for these Races

Signup Now

Big Calusa Day

North Shore Park, Fort Myers

Saturday, April 27th | 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Big Calusa Day

A full day of recreation with kayak & paddleboard races, sailboat rides, fossil hunting, mermaid tales and “Little Toot” the Magic Tugboat for kids, along with fishing and boating safety workshops, master naturalist ecotours, and more along the Caloosahatchee in N. Fort Myers.

You may also Sign up for Manatee Eco Tours

Signup for a Manatee Eco Tour

Big Calusa Day Kids Activities

  • Fossil Hunting
  • “Little Toot” Magical Tugboat
  • “Yemaya the Mermaid” stories
  • Family Kayaking
  • Fishing Best Practices

Adult & Family Activities

  • Kayak & Paddle Board Races
  • Hobie Cat sailboat rides
  • Master Naturalists Manatee Tours
  • Rowing Demonstration
  • Boating Safety Courses
Get Tickets for Big Calusa Day

A big thanks to our Big Calusa sponsors: Pinchers Marina at Edison Ford; the Severus Foundation; Manatee Eco & River Tours; CONRIC PR & Marketing;, Millennial Brewing; Captains for Clean Water; Kayak DIY;Three Fishermen Restaurant; Edison Sailing Center; Pure Florida; Metro Blinds; Keep Lee County Beautiful; Jensen’s Cottages and Marina; Hans Wilson Associates, and Sydney & Berne Davis Arts Center; Edison & Ford Winter Estates; GAEA Guides; Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program (CHNEP); Lee County Parks & Recreation Conservation 20/20; John R. Wood, LightHawk Environmental Flights; CCRC; Breeze Newspapers, Doc Fords Restaurants, CMCS Sailing Club, Chicos, Ocean Habitat inc., artist Myra Robers, artist Marcus Jansen & Unit A Studio, Bay Water Boat Club, and Official Hotel Sponsor: Best Western Waterfront Hotel.

Big Calusa Awards

Edison & Ford Winter Estates

Sunday, April 28th | 4:30 - 6:30 PM

Clean-up Crews & Race Winners Awarded at this Free Event

Calusa clean-up champions, race-winners and local clean water heroes will be honored at an awards banquet at the Edison and Ford Winter Estates. Guests will enjoy live music with remarks by newly appointed Water Management District Chairman and Sanibel favorite son, Chauncey Goss.

RSVP Now

Annual Member Dinner

Pinchers Restaurant, Fort Myers

Sunday, April 28th | 6:30 - 9:30 PM

You must purchase tickets ahead of time to secure your spot!

Get Tickets

Offering a limited number of reduced $20 tickets for our Members. Reservations are necessary, Space is limited. A limited number of $40 tickets are available for Non-Members.

Ranger Corner:

 
Ranger training class
 
Congratulations to our latest graduates of the CWK Ranger Academy, now totaling 56. Our volunteer Rangers monitor, document and report water conditions in the Calusa Waterkeeper project area. Learn more about our Rangers.
 
Ranger water testing
 

Thanks to the efforts of our volunteer Rangers for collecting water samples throughout Lee County  to test the levels of Enterococci bacteria from additional inland Lee County sites. View test results from our local waterways.

 
Governor Ron DeSantis
 

CWK ranger Jason Pim spoke with Florida Weekly about the Governor's passion for Florida's environment immediately after taking office: “Gov. DeSantis has come out strong on water quality, so it’s left some environmentalists asking, ‘Who is this guy?’. Continue Reading

FGCU Biodiversity Conference

Calusa Waterkeeper John Cassani speaks to Policy at the FGCU Biodiversity conference

Waterway Advocacy & Outreach

 
Eden Oaks Development
 

Eden Oaks Development Update in Lee County

The ill-conceived Eden Oaks development moves forward with a Lee County zoning hearing scheduled for April 23rd. Calusa Waterkeeper (CWK) has opposed this development located in mangrove wetlands along Shell Point Boulevard in South Fort Myers. The Eden Oaks developer seeks to dredge and fill approximately 37 acres of wetlands. These mangrove forests protect the coast against storms, help improve water quality and serve as critical habitat for marine species such as the endangered smalltooth sawfish. Continue Reading

 
Florida Legislation
 

Legislative Notes from Waterkeepers Florida 

Hundreds of bills and issues are being heard during the Florida Legislative Session and Waterkeepers Florida is keeping pace with the bills and efforts that could effect water quality throughout the state. From transportation and stormwater management infrastructure to water testing, the Clean Waterways Act and funding for red tide mitigation, you can keep up with legislation and our multi-group effort to support and oppose these bills as they move from the house to the state senate. Learn More

Membership Updates

We'd like to say a special thanks to the 14 individuals who became Calusa Waterkeeper members in the month of March. Your pledge to help us on our mission of protecting and advocating for the Caloosahatchee watershed is admirable and deeply appreciated. 

 
CWK Members
 

Not a member yet? Would you like to renew your membership?

Email [email protected] to check the status of your membership before annual dinner this month!

Join/Renew Your Membership

Calusa Waterkeeper In The Press

 
Caloosahatchee kayaking
 

“All year long, we find ourselves talking about the catastrophic harm we have suffered due to red tide and blue-green algae: fish and marine life dying by the millions, residents at higher risk of illness, significant economic damage and on,” Calusa Waterkeeper John Cassani said. “Now it’s time to remind everyone why our water is so special.” Continue Reading

 
water sunset
 
Calusa Waterkeeper has created The Big Calusa, a family-friendly, recreational, educational and cultural week-long festival and clean-up to reconnect the community in a positive way with local waterways. The Big Calusa begins on Earth Day, April 22, with the Calusa Kayakers Clean-Up Kick-Off Party at Millennial Brewing Company. Continue Reading
 
Chiquita Lock
 

A water control structure in southwest Cape Coral will be the focus of a hearing this week as some environmental and civic groups aim to keep the city from removing the Chiquita Lock. The lock was designed to retain freshwater so that it has a period of time to wash through an adjacent mangrove system, which helps clean the water. Continue Reading

 
FDOH Unresponsive to Public
 
With toxic algae fouling Southwest Florida’s inland waterways and coastline last year, state health officials faced a flood of worried questions as people turned to them for crisis leadership. Yet through it all, the Florida Department of Health stayed largely in the background, but The News-Press has obtained more than 2,500 emails from the department. Continue Reading
 
James Metcalf and John Cassani
 

U.S. Rep. Francis Rooney is pressing the CDC to share what it knows about the short and long-term health effects of the toxic algae that befouled Southwest Florida last year. Rooney said he also hopes to include the university [FGCU] and Lee Health, both of which have been collecting information about the outbreak. Continue Reading

 
Dolphin BMAA poisoning
 
A toxic blue-green algae that choked the Fort Myers-Cape Coral area last summer has shown up in dolphins with brain disease. Researchers tested stranded dolphins and all but one of the dolphins tested positive for the cyanobacterial neurotoxin known as BMAA as well as brain disease. Continue Reading
 
President Trump visits Lake O
 

President Donald Trump toured both Lake Okeechobee and the Herbert Hoover Dike allowing him to see areas where blue-green algae has already begun to develop in the Lake. Recent tests show pockets of algae in the Caloosahatchee on its way toward Fort Myers. Continue Reading

 
Mullock Creek project
 
With headwaters just east of U.S. 41, Mullock Creek, which flows to Estero Bay is part of the Outstanding Florida Waters program. Lee County in partnership with SFWMD are clearing the creek of vegetation overgrowth following disastrous flooding in 2017. Continue Reading

Around the Watershed

 
Millennial Brewing
 

Millennial Brewing invited us to their Cider Festival. We are proud to have them as a community partner!

 
Davis Boat Ramp microcystin
 

FDEP reports relatively high levels of the cyanotoxin microcystin (19.9 ug/l) at the Davis Boat Ramp off the Caloosahatchee

 
cyanobacteria graph
 

A comparison of the cyanobacteria pigment phycocyanin in the freshwater Caloosahatchee at Franklin Lock between March of 2018 and 2019.

 
Chlorophyll A in Lake O
 

Algal concentrations in Lake Okeechobee may be on the rise according to satellite imagery from 3/26 depicting Chlorophyll A which is an algal pigment.

CALUSA WATERKEEPER MISSION

To Protect and Restore the Caloosahatchee River from Lake Okeechobee to the Coastal Waters.

Make a Donation
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Phone: (239) 784-0880
Pollution Hotline: (239) 444-8584
Email: [email protected]

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Calusa Waterkeeper
PO Box 1165
Fort Myers, FL 33902

 
Waterkeeper Alliance Member
 

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