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What the City of Sanibel is already doing to protect Water Resources:
"We are in the final phase of converting the entire island from septic to central Sewer (Estimated completion 2008)
"Acquisition of environmentally sensitive land on Sanibel together with our partners including the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation and the USFWS totaling over 1200 acres since 1980, with over 67% of the entire island now preserved as conservation lands, a total of over 6,700 acres.
"Strict vegetation standards promoting native plants and requiring that 75% of all plants installed by homeowners be native species. Native species require much less water than do exotics and eliminate the need for fertilizers and pesticides to maintain them.
"Implementation of the EPA's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) to reduce storm water runoff and increase onsite storm water retention.
"Protection of the island's mangroves to improve buffering capacity of the coastline to reduce pollutant runoff into our coastal waters.
"Reduction of impervious surface during development to increase storm water retention and aquifer recharge. "Providing educational information on alternatives to using toxic pesticides and fertilizers, which can affect wildlife and water resources.
"The City has been a pioneer in establishing strong regulations on the use of fertilizer to help protect water quality and reduce the run-off of nutrient pollutants in stormwater.
"The city is moving to a re-use water system to utilize treated wastewater on-island for irrigation needs.
"The city actively protects the beach dune system by requiring property owners living on the Gulf of Mexico to minimize trimming impacts within the dune community, increasing the buffering capacity of plants and reducing runoff.
"The City holds annual hazardous waste disposal drop-off days to reduce the occurrence of improper disposal of toxic substances.
"The city, with its partners SCCF and the US Fish and Wildlife Service, maintain over 1600 acres of interior freshwater wetlands through a weir system that improves water retention, acts as a filter marsh to absorb excess nutrients, reduces stormwater run-off from the interior portions of the island and maintains the proper hydrology for wetland plant communities and wildlife.
What property owners can do to help protect our water resources:
Attached are some links to help conserve water, reduce nutrient inputs from your property from stormwater run-off and minimize your impact on our coastal waters:
Florida Yards and Neighbors Program (IFAS) http://hort.ufl.edu/fyn/
SFWMD http://www.sfwmd.gov/newsr/3_conserve.html
http://www.sfwmd.gov/curre/watshort/pdfs/spl50ways.pdf
http://www.sfwmd.gov/curre/watshort/pdfs/splsensprnk.pdf
http://www.sfwmd.gov/images/pdfs/splash/splxeris.pdf
http://www.sfwmd.gov/newsr/plant_guide/plant_guide.html
http://www.sfwmd.gov/newsr/3_conserve.html
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