SOUTHWEST FLORIDA, (WINK) — Rules to protect Florida’s water kick in next week, restricting how you use fertilizer on your property.
Lee County’s Fertilize Smart campaign features an entertaining video that passes along a serious message. The video urges residents to stop using fertilizer from June 1 to Sept. 30 to protect waterways.
Rainy season runoff of fertilizer rich in nitrogen and phosphorus has been linked to algae blooms and fish kills. Linda Kutney came to WINK’s Matlacha WINK Listens event to talk about several water issues.
“Here is something that is continually ignored,” Kutney said.
She would like to see counties and cities handing out fines to the biggest offenders to deter fertilizer use.
“Which would be the companies that I see all the time spraying right before water events, hurricanes,” Kutney said.
Lee County’s ordinance allows for fines. But the county has never issued one, preferring to use education to get people to comply.
Cape Coral also has a fertilizer ordinance that asks residents to “be wise if you fertilize” to protect its miles of waterways. In addition to the summer fertilizer restrictions, all counties in Southwest Florida limit fertilizer use near any body of water, starting at 6 feet all the way to 25 feet.
“The approach that the government is taking to control water pollution and effects on drinking water and environmental health are not adequate,” Kutney said.
Kutney would like a more heavy-handed approach to protect the water we all rely on.
For a website on more information about Southwest Florida’s fertilizer ordinances, click here.
To see the full list of Lee, Charlotte, and Collier counties, as well as the Cape Coral fertilizer ordinances, click the PDF’s below.