Bay Water

At the commission meeting Monday, new Commissioner Ken Shelin commented on discussions he has recently had with Dr. K. Mahadevan, President of Mote Marine. As Commissioner Shelin reported, Dr. Mahadevan shares a concern about the water quality of Sarasota Bay. While this interest may have recently surfaced because of the infrastructure failures at the Hudson Bayou pumping station, there was an offer from Mote to conduct periodic water quality sampling and testing in and near Hudson and Whitaker Bayous.

Both of these bayous receive storm water runoff from a wide drainage area and have been the focus of study by the Sarasota Bay National Estuary Program as well as Mote Marine. Both bayous also have toxic sediments that have been there for a long time and are related to lead in gasoline, pesticides, boat anti-fouling chemicals and other causes. Mote would conduct additional studies and compare current results with historical data they have conducted.
It didn’t take Commissioner Shelin long to start asking questions about the health of our "signature" resource - Sarasota Bay. A renewed focus on water quality improvement here would be welcomed.