Removal of Chiquita Lock will help save the manatees
To the editor:
The article in the Breeze on April 21 regarding the city and the Florida DEP approving taking out the Chiquita lock would have the reader believe that the only reason the city wants the lock out is because “Petitioners state the city has only offered one reason for the removal and that’s to allow boaters to navigate the Spreader Waterway without having to wait for operation of the lock.” Essentially, damn the environment.
That is simply not true.
The city and hundreds of residents would like the lock out:
1. Manatees are being killed/crushed in the lock. According to the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission records, since 1999 10 manatees have been killed in the Chiquita lock, with four killed in the last two years. FWC supports the removal of the lock.
2. The answer is not a “Manatee Protection System.” Glades County locks have had a Manatee Protection System since 2012. Just last year six manatees were killed in the lock, and 18 since 2012.
3. Those who oppose taking out the lock say they are for the environment, but apparently don’t care about the manatee.
The environment:
A combination of projects has been proposed by the city to improve water quality in the Spreader waterbody and receiving waters, as well as to satisfy the public interest and mitigation criteria.
The city has proposed the following activities listed below:
1. The replacement of stormwater catch basins which drain to the Waterway;
2. The improvement of the stormwater management system associated with the dog park at Rotary Park;
3. Contributions to the study of endangered smalltooth sawfish;
4. The implementation of an aquatic vegetation removal program.
5. The planting of over 3,000 mangrove seedlings along the waterway, as well as installing oyster reef balls in the area where the seawall is being installed. Oyster and reef balls have been very successful in other parts of Florida.
6. The city has negotiated with the city of Fort Myers on an interlocal agreement for the city to purchase and dispose of reclaimed water generated by Fort Myers (the “Connect Project”). This Connect Project will result in a substantial reduction of nutrients to the Caloosahatchee River.
7. A detailed public education program concerning endangered species, boater safety, and water quality protection.
The lock was severely damaged in Hurricane Ian and has been open seven months with no degradation to the mangroves. The water is actually clearer now than at any time in the 21 years I have lived in Cape Coral. This week we saw a large manatee go under our dock and moved along the seawall to our neighbor’s dock. One of the neighbors has spotted five manatees in Round Lake feeding on seagrass. The manatees are in Round Lake because the lock is open. I can’t remember before this ever seeing a manatee in the water behind our house.
I am not a scientist, I am not associated with any governmental entity, I am an infrequent boater. The protection of the manatees is more important to me than anything to do with having to wait a few extra minutes to get through the lock.
The same reporter for the Breeze who wrote the April 21 article wrote an article on June 30, 2022 entitled “Manatee deaths up at Chiquita Lock.” It is worth reading.
I think those who resist the removal of the lock have greatly misrepresented the positions of the city and its residents.
Dennis Costello
Cape Coral