Cape’s Canalwatch looking for additional volunteers
A volunteer group dedicated to education and providing data to the city regarding clean water is marking 30 years and looking for additional guardians.
The city of Cape Coral is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Canalwatch Volunteer Program and is inviting community-minded citizens to join this vital initiative to help protect local waterways.
For three decades, Canalwatch has been a proactive, community-driven effort dedicated to educating residents about water quality, fostering open communication between the city and its citizens, and strengthening a shared sense of responsibility for Cape Coral’s unique canal system.
Harry Phillips has been with Canalwatch for just over 20 years, serving as the program’s coordinator and environmental biologist.
He said programs like Canalwatch started popping up around the Sunshine State following the Clean Water Act in 1972 dealing with end-of-pipe pollution. Phillips said it wasn’t until the late ’80s/early ’90s that the Clean Water Act started to really think about storm water runoff and the potential pollution that comes with it.
“A big component of that was public education and public outreach,” he said. “It just made sense for Cape Coral, where we have 400 linear miles of canals that are really influenced by storm water runoff, to engage the public in how the city manages those canal waterways, and the benefits of having them being as pristine as we can possibly make them. One top of that, if you have these ambassadors in the neighborhoods, they kind of start dialogue with their family friends and neighbors.
“It became very apparent that once pollution hits the water, it’s really hard to get out. So if you can have source control, then that’s a good way to do it. In order to have source control, you have to let people know what those influences are.”
Along with being educators, Canalwatch members are trained to take samples of local water and provide much-needed data for the city.
Canalwatch volunteers collect environmental data and water samples from designated sites across Cape Coral each month and transport them in a safe manner to the city. The city’s water quality laboratory analyzes these samples, namely for nutrients, providing valuable insights that guide canal management and help keep waterways clean and healthy.
“We’re sampling the canals once a month,” Phillips said. “We test it in the lab. The residents themselves get the benefit of knowing what’s going on with the canal behind their home. It’s a win-win — we get supplementary data for areas maybe we don’t go to for normal sampling.”
Phillips said volunteers are peppered throughout the city to help provide data to a very unique canal system. He said water quality plays a role in all facets of the way the city operates at the highest level, from keeping wildlife safe, as well as the economy and environment.
“Even though water quality is regulated by the (Department of Environmental Protection), it’s still a huge priority for the city of Cape Coral as a municipality,” Phillips said. “The health and vitality of the community and environment is based on water quality. So we rely on our citizens to be stewards of the environment.”
There are roughly 40 volunteer members of Canalwatch currently, with the number fluctuating over the years. Phillips said some members are fairly new, while others have been with the program since its inception. There is no limit to how many volunteers can join.
“You build that rapport out in the field,” Phillips said. “We want to be able to protect our water as best we can.”
Phillips said the blue-green algae outbreak in 2018 really opened eyes locally to how bad water can get if not taken care of.
“We’re trying to do our best to maintain water quality within the city limits, but something can happen upstream and really undermine that,” he said. “There’s also a lot of misconceptions. After (the outbreak), people wanted to point the finger at Lake Okeechobee and the Caloosahatchee River, and what was going on upstream.
“But (there are problems that you see locally) that are within the city. (People shouldn’t always) place the blame on someone else, when it’s very obvious that our community is compounding the problem.”
Canalwatch initiatives over the years include the planting of aquatic vegetation along seawalls, as well as the hanging of oyster gardens along docks to attract filter feeders. Canalwatch volunteers can also be the first to see that things are off in the body of water they monitor, and can pass along that information to the city.
The analysis of these samples are uploaded online and can be viewed by visiting https://chnep.wateratlas.usf.edu/canalwatch/.
Phillips said the northeast Cape that could use volunteers especially.
The city welcomes new volunteers of all backgrounds. No prior experience is necessary, and full training is provided. If you’re interested in volunteering or learning more about Canalwatch, contact Phillips at 239-574-0785 or hphillip@capecoral.gov.
To reach CJ HADDAD, please email cjhaddad@breezenewspapers.com