SATELLITE BEACH, Fla. — A yearlong initiative has been put into place by the Marine Resources Council to put the spotlight on the plight of the struggling Indian River Lagoon.

What You Need To Know

  •  The nonprofit Marine Resources Council has formed a group to help improve the condition of the Indian River Lagoon

  •  Experts say that it will take decades of effort to restore the lagoon

  • The group put together by the MRC is made up of 100 members

It took decades for the lagoon to decline due to pollution, and it will take decades more to fix the damage.

“We got a problem, we have to figure out a way to fix this,” said Craig Wallace, a retired electrical engineer who moved to Brevard County in 2014.

He knew nothing about the poor condition of the lagoon but says he learned quickly when a large fish kill happened in the waters off his Satellite Beach home.

Since then, Wallace said it’s been his goal to educate people on not just what has happened, but what concerned community members like himself are doing to proactively help.

“About 25 to 30% of the average population around here actually knows what’s going on in terms of restoring the lagoon," Wallace said. "So we need to increase those numbers."

He is part of a 100 member group formed by the nonprofit Marine Resources Council, which is working to restore the lagoon.

It’s a collaboration of stakeholders using science to look at what’s been done to the lagoon and brainstorm ideas to bring it back to what it once was.

The assembly mirrors a similar effort undertaken in 2014, when MRC representative Ken Parks said the lagoon was in possibly its worst time of crisis.

“What else do we need to do?" Wallace asked. "Catching up is not enough — you got to catch up then move ahead."

Dozens of projects have been put in motion since 2016, when a sales tax to help clean up the estuary's waters took effect.

So far, 43 stormwater projects — like baffle boxes, five muck removal projects that have been completed or are in the works, and more than 500 homes being converted from septic to sewer — have taken place using around $325,000,000 that has been allocated for the effort so far.

Both men agree that with so many people moving to the area, they need to be made aware of the lagoon’s issues.

“We need to get the word out, get the message out,” Wallace said.

The Marine Resources Council is also putting together the first lagoon progress and action report to highlight work already underway, and lay out what else it will take to restore balance in the lagoon by 2050.