Calusa Waterkeeper Concerned About Impact of Large Storm Plume Seen in Naples Bay

Tropical Storm Elsa may be well clear of Southwest Florida by now, but a few after effects are still being felt.

A large plume of storm runoff could be seen from Naples Bay through Gordon Pass on Wednesday. That plume has since dissipated into the Gulf but there remains an underlying issue for water experts. We’re seeing more nutrients in Southwest Florida waters so the question is, could this cause more problems?

“It just adds more nutrients that grows the harmful algal blooms and creates other problems with our public waters,” says John Cassani, the Calusa Waterkeeper.

On Wednesday, this was the site of Naples Bay- clear gulf water interspersed with storm runoff. The dark water discharging from Naples Bay through Gordon Pass as a result of rainfall from Tropical Storm Elsa.

“When the landscape is a lot of parking lots, rooftops, roads- what we call impervious surface- that rain runs off rather than infiltrates into the ground,” said Cassani. “And so we get this sort of massive plume of runoff and what you saw in that picture was some pretty ugly looking water moving out into the Gulf.”