The county’s most sought-out training location, Oars and Paddles Park in Indian Harbour Beach, is starting its busiest paddling season with no new dock to ease congestion and noise caused by users ranging from weekend hobbyists to elite athletes from across the world.
With nearly $200,000 in county Tourist Development Council improvements delayed by permitting and a legal challenge, getting the improvements done was the biggest concern.
But since a Feb. 1 spill of 375,000 gallons of raw sewage near the Grand Canal north of the park, the paddlers’ main thoroughfare has been under a no-swim warning. As of press time, the popular park was just coming off 11 days of contaminated water advisories. Residents living along the impacted canals were given the all clear by Brevard County on Monday after bacteriological tests showed that water quality in the affected areas was deemed acceptable.
The spill was caused by a 30-year-old corroded pipe bursting, sending the sewage into the nearest stormwater drain and out to the canals. The area canals were posted off limits pending bacteriological testing for water quality.
While much smaller in scale and length of prohibition of canal use, the recent incident reminds local residents of massive flooding that closed canals after a nearly 20-million-gallon discharge of sewage during Hurricane Irma and a follow-up storm just after. The flooding inundated both stormwater and wastewater systems.
The health concern in these cases is for anyone who gets in and ingests the tainted water. It still is a concern for paddlers through contact with the skin, and therefore likely changed training routes for kayak teams now in training, said Jared McNally, citizen science coordinator for the Marine Resources Council.
Indian Harbour Beach City Manager Mark Ryan said that his city officials are tired of being ground zero for the earlier sewage discharges in Indian Harbour Beach and are not happy about the more recent spill, although it is located farther north in Satellite Beach, because it puts the popular park and the river access for paddlers – the city’s environmental gem – in a bad light.
“The city is definitely concerned with the repeat breaks and discharge of raw sewage to the lagoon. The breaks impact one of our greatest assets: the Indian River Lagoon,’’ Ryan said.
In the recent spill, the canal behind the fire station at 1390 S. Patrick Drive was the most impacted which is between Cinnamon Court and Island View Drive with notification given to residents living on the canal south of Cinnamon Court between Lansing Island Drive and Island View Drive, according to county spokesman Don Walker.
During the nearly 20-million-gallon discharges around Hurricane Irma, signs on the impacted canals were up from Sept. 13 to Oct. 27.
The TDC funds for the improvements at Oars and Paddles Park were determined to be appropriate for the project after a legal review.
Still driving the improvements forward and calling for patience with the process is avid paddler Jacie Stivers. “Of course, everyone who uses the park for access to our beautiful waterways will appreciate the coming additional capacity on the piers. The city continues to be very diligent to make sure all of the processes including permitting and construction are done correctly,’’ she said. Next will be a review by the Army Corps of Engineers which has jurisdiction over the waterways, she said.
“The paddling groups from around the world are starting to arrive. It is always an exciting time of the year for me as I watch the river fill up with these incredible athletes. It’s a niche positive economic driver for the benefit of Indian Harbour Beach,’’ she said.
