Community Action Plan:
Billy’s Creek, Fort Myers
Executive Summary
The Billy’s Creek Community Action Plan (BC-CAP) serves as a call to action for restoring a local tributary, Billy’s Creek. From its early history to the present day, memories and life experiences intersect and continue to affirm the significant role Billy’s Creek holds in the greater Fort Myers community. Throughout the process of writing the Billy’s Creek Community Action Plan (BC-CAP), oral histories were collected in an effort to understand the place Billy’s Creek holds in the hearts of the people who live here. Shared with us were stories of learning to swim in the once white, sandy-bottom creek; teaching youth about the local environment with school trips to the creek; and, most popularly, fishing alongside family and friends.
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Billy’s Creek Oral History Project
Our stories are what connect us to each other and our environment. Therefore, Calusa Waterkeeper is collecting oral histories from community members to amplify the historical, cultural, and recreational significance that Billy’s Creek has had in our lives.
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Related News Stories
Fecal Bacteria
Floridians Have the Right to Know if Public Waters they Recreate in are Safe from Contamination
The current Florida Department of Health (FDOH) policy at the county level is inconsistent. The only waters routinely monitored are the coastal beaches. It’s rare when signage warning of fecal bacteria is implemented, often at the discretion of local politicians who have no training in public health.
Words from the Waterkeeper, Episode 21
This week, Calusa Waterkeeper John Cassani, informs us of Lake Okeechobee and the ongoing releases from the Army Corps of Engineers into the Caloosahatchee. There has also been a recent spike in red tide along the gulf.
Calusa Waterkeeper and City of Fort Myers find Differing Fecal Bacteria Data
Efforts to clean up Billy’s Creek are getting a boost. The City of Fort Myers and Calusa Waterkeeper are working together surveying the waterway to help make our water cleaner. The problem is, surveyors are getting conflicting data for fecal bacteria and source tracing.
Calusa Waterkeeper Tests for Source of Billy’s Creek Contamination
Fecal bacteria contamination in Billy’s Creek has been a concern for years, and a local group, Calusa Waterkeeper, is working to fix the problem. They hope new testing will help determine where the bacteria is coming from. Billy’s Creek winds from Fort Myers to the Caloosahatchee, but fecal bacteria has been plaguing this waterway for at least two decades.
‘Staggering’ Amount of Fecal Bacteria Found in Billy’s Creek in Fort Myers
John Cassani with Calusa Waterkeeper said the amount of fecal bacteria located in the creek is staggering. “The contamination is extraordinarily high, it’s terrible. It’s been this way for almost two decades.” Records of the fecal bacteria have been kept by Lee County since 2001.
Calusa Waterkeeper to Conduct Source Tracing of Fecal Bacteria in Billy’s Creek
Calusa Waterkeeper will conduct the first phase of a study to determine the source of the fecal bacteria contamination of Billy’s Creek. The testing determines if the nitrogen is from raw domestic sewage, wildlife, septic tanks, treated wastewater or agricultural sources and will be compared to a concurrent study in the Caloosahatchee River.
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Priority Issues
Harmful Algal Blooms
Cyanobacteria & Red Tide
Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) and Karenia brevis (red tide) have been making major impacts on Southwest Florida.
Lake Okeechobee Discharges
Revise System Operating Manual
The Caloosahatchee River often suffers from too much freshwater in the wet season, and not enough freshwater in the dry season.
Cape Coral Spreader Canals
Nutrient & Sediment Loading
The City of Cape Coral is working to remove large storm-water barriers to make recreational boating more convenient.
Bacteria Monitoring
Fecal Bacteria
Calusa Waterkeeper has been at the forefront of monitoring this Fort Myers tributary for fecal bacteria indicators.