Kayaking is a popular activity on the Middle River, which has recently been under scrutiny for elevated fecal matter levels.
Kayaking is a popular activity on the Middle River, which has recently been under scrutiny for elevated fecal matter levels.
Fort Lauderdale residents may want to rethink kayaking, jet-skiing, and other water-related play in local areas after private testing revealed dangerous amounts of fecal matter in proximate waterways.
Following a sewer line break that spewed 126 million gallons of sewage into local streets and bodies of water in December, a private entity decided to test a portion of the Middle River that the city hadn't addressed. The results were unhealthy levels of waste that can cause infection and parasites, according to a report in the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
The initial spills and consequent testing occurred in the first week of the year, but the City of Fort Lauderdale's water advisory never moved north of Broward Boulevard. Additionally, the water warnings were lifted by Jan. 7, but fecal levels in select areas continue to be a concern.
Marilu Flores, regional manager of the nonprofit that provided the private testing, told the Sun Sentinel that water quality testing has fallen far down the state's priority list since its funding slash of the Florida Healthy Beaches program. The Surfrider Foundation responded with the Blue Water Task Force in an effort to restore water quality maintenance.
Broward County has also tested the Middle River for fecal matter levels every quarter since 2017 and deemed the water quality there poor. Area resident Doug Lachmuth fears that another hidden sewage leak is to blame for the prolonged water pollution.
Lachmuth is a member of the group 954 Paddle Crew, a group of paddle-boarders that frequents the Middle River to the north of Sunrise Boulevard by George English Park for training and recreation.
"We wanted to know if the sewage was making it up to our area, because the city wasn't testing our area," group 954 Paddle Crew member Doug Lachmuth told the Sun Sentinel. "When the tests came back, it failed miserably."
Mayor Dean Trantalis agreed that the waterway is a concern, but worries that the constant elevated fecal matter levels are a result of boaters dumping their waste overboard before docking, calling this a "human health disaster waiting to happen."
"We have to fix the culture," Trantalis said. "We have ignored the health of our waterways for many years."
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