FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Calusa Waterkeepers are calling on the city of Fort Myers to take immediate action after their independent testing revealed persistent human fecal contamination in Manuel's Branch, a popular recreational waterway that flows through downtown Fort Myers.
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The environmental nonprofit presented alarming findings to the city's Environmental Advisory Board, showing that Manuel's Branch exceeds state water quality standards for fecal bacteria 90% to 200% of the time, often by orders of magnitude.
"We've confirmed over a number of tests that there's a human source to that contamination, possibly more than one human source," said Jason Pim, a volunteer and board member for Calusa Waterkeepers.
The contaminated waterway courses through downtown Fort Myers, past the hospital, through athletic fields at Fort Myers High School, and into Manuel's Branch Neighborhood Park, where families regularly swim, fish and play in the water.
Public health risk at popular park
The Calusa Waterkeepers identified Manuel's Branch Neighborhood Park as a particular concern due to the elevated public health risk from direct contact with contaminated water.
"Whether you're a kid or adult who doesn't want to interact with the water when you walk right up to it like that, and unfortunately, there's a heightened risk of doing so," Pim said during the presentation.
Community members said they're concerned about the lack of awareness regarding the contamination.
"I probably, probably like, on the once a week there's, there's some family or kids doing something in the water just right here," said Thomas Swaya, who has lived here for 17 years.
Swaya said families and children regularly use the water for recreation without knowing about the potential health risks.
Testing reveals human waste sources
The Calusa Waterkeepers conducted extensive testing throughout 2023 and 2024, using protocols approved by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Their human source tracing confirmed the presence of human waste in the waterway, though they were unable to conclusively identify specific point sources.
The group's findings contrast with the city's testing results. While the Florida Department of Environmental Protection issued a consent order against Fort Myers in 2020 requiring pollution reduction efforts, the organization said the city reportedly stopped regular human source testing after receiving two non-detects in summer 2024.
"In the same time frame, our independent sampling, and also a sample that DEP took did find human did have a detect for human sources in that same time frame," Pim said.
Inadequate warning signs criticized
Environmental Advisory Board members criticized the current warning signage at Manuel's Branch as insufficient to protect public health.
One board member, speaking as a parent, said the existing signs with simple "no swimming" or "no fishing" symbols fail to convey the serious health risks.
"I will tell you, as a mom of boys, they would see the little no fishing Circle line or the no swimming Circle Line, and they're not realizing it's because there's poop in the water," the board member said.
The board member added that clearer signage indicating fecal contamination would better protect families.
"If I had ever seen a sign that said fecal potential, fecal contamination, my kids wouldn't be playing," she said.
Waterkeepers demand action plan
The Calusa Waterkeepers presented several recommendations to address both immediate health risks and long-term contamination sources.
Their primary request is for the city to implement more comprehensive human source testing with greater frequency and at more locations to identify pollution sources.
"Our big ask is for the city to do more human source tracing testing, to have greater number of sites and more frequency to try to understand the problem and pinpoint the potential point sources," Pim said.
For immediate risk reduction while infrastructure repairs are planned, the group recommended:
- Improved signage clearly indicating fecal contamination risks
- Vegetation management to allow UV light penetration
- Sediment removal to improve water flow
- Debris and trash cleanup
Call for transparency and collaboration
The Calusa Waterkeepers emphasized the need for greater collaboration and transparency between the city, state agencies and environmental groups.
"The transparency creates trust, and the more we can work in in those ways, I think that would benefit everyone," Pim said.
The Environmental Advisory Board plans to hear from city officials about their current monitoring and remediation efforts in January before making formal recommendations to the Fort Myers City Council.
Pim said the organization has already begun discussions with city council members about presenting their findings directly to the full council.
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