Gov. DeSantis to send $130 million in funding to the Indian River Lagoon

TAMPA, Fla. - The lack of seagrass continues to take a toll on Manatee mortality.

To help, Governor DeSantis announced he's allocating more than $130 million in funds to the Indian River Lagoon on Florida's east coast, where they're seeing the problem first-hand.

READ: Gov. DeSantis vetoes funding that would have helped fix water quality issues in Little Sarasota Bay

About $104 million of the funding will go towards water quality improvement projects.

The organization Save the Manatee said the funding is a great shot in the arm and is needed, but unfortunately, they say it will take a lot more money to get this problem under control.

At one point, Florida's sea cows were dying at an alarming rate recording 1100 deaths in 2021 and then 800 in 2022.

So far this year, 321 deaths have been recorded from January to May, according to Florida Fish and Wildlife.

Most of the deaths have occurred in the Indian River Lagoon on Florida's east coast, North America's most diverse estuary, which has more than 4000 different species of plants and animals.

 The lack of seagrass has resulted in more manatee deaths.

"There are some areas in the lagoon where seagrass is recovering, and so that's encouraging. Water quality is improving, and seagrasses is recovering in certain areas, but overall there's still less than there should be," said Kim Dinkins, Save the Manatee Senior Conservation.

A large portion of the $130 million, about $104 million, will be dedicated to water quality improvement projects.

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Dinkins shared that agricultural runoff is one of the biggest contributors to the pollution and algae in the lagoon.

"We have to have a mindset of keeping pollution out of that estuary before it even gets there, so those preventative type measures are the most important," Dinkins explained.

Most manatee deaths have been in the Indian River Lagoon.

It's why Save the Manatee is among a few different environmental groups suing the EPA over manatee deaths. They're asking a judge to force the EPA to reconsult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about water quality standards because they believe they should be stronger considering the impact the water quality has had on manatee mortality.

"We have no reason not to try to save them. We know that the impacts that we're making are, again, harming so many different types of creatures. So we have to do something," Dinkins shared.

The Save the Manatee organization said that to fix the problem, they estimate the estuary needs upwards of $5 billion instead of the $130 million allocated. As for the lawsuit, they are just awaiting a judge's decision.