Myakka River sometimes looks like chocolate milk, residents say

An attempt to persuade Manatee County commissioners into putting protections in place for the Myakka River left at least a handful of Myakka City residents disappointed. 

“I feel like the other commissioners (outside of Commissioner Carol Felts) have this it's not in my back yard attitude,” Myakka City’s Lindsey Leigh said. “Trying to explain to people that live an urban lifestyle that we want to be left alone and maintain an agricultural and rural way of life is hard to do when we don’t have the numbers to back it up. There were five of us (at the commission meeting Sept. 16).”

Those five residents, along with Jono Miller, retired director of the New College of Florida Environmental Studies Program, attended the commission meeting because they say Manatee County should be protecting and monitoring its portion of the Myakka River, especially because plans for two golf courses were approved along its banks in 2023. 

Soleta Golf Club opened on Singletary Road in December 2024, and construction of the Miakka Golf Club on Clay Gully Road is ongoing.

Residents asked commissioners to protect the river with an overlay zone, which would provide pollution regulations and setbacks for the use of fill materials and any construction. 

The Myakka River Management Coordinating Council filed a motion in August to have the overlay cover the river from Flatford Swamp and the Myakka head down to the north end of Myakka River State Park.

“I don’t know who put a bug in someone’s head that an overlay is somehow skirting Senate Bill 180,” Commission Chair George Kruse said, “but it’s not. You can’t put an overlay on here with Senate Bill 180.” 

SB 180, which is in effect until Oct. 1, 2027, prohibits local governments from making development regulations “more restrictive or burdensome.”

Felts made a motion to instead direct staff to come up with a plan to fund the necessary personnel to do what Manatee County “should have been doing all along,” which includes upholding water quality and environmental standards.

Kruse argued that lifeguards have been cut, along with Sunday library hours and potential new positions, to make the fiscal year 2026 budget work. With that in mind, he requested to see metrics about what these positions would accomplish. 

“As a fiscal conservative, I’m not real happy about asking to hire more people or to spend more money,” Felts said. “But if that’s what it takes, let’s see what we can come up with.”

The vote was 6-0, so staff members will have to return with a plan by the budget meeting Sept. 22. However, commissioners will have to approve the plan for any action to be taken. 

Iced tea, root beer or chocolate milk?

Miller noted that the water in the Myakka River is tannin-stained, so people tend to argue if it looks more like iced tea or root beer. But what’s not up for debate is that the water should never look like chocolate milk. 

When looking like a cool glass of Southern sweet tea, the water is tannin-stained from decomposing vegetation, but it’s healthy. The resemblance to chocolate milk is a sign of high turbidity, which causes negative effects to the ecosystem. 

The turbidity volumes provided by the Manatee County Water Atlas showed “a drastic increase in recent years,” Miller said. The levels are fairly steady from 2020 and start rising in 2023. 

Turbidity is defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as “a measure of water clarity.”

The clarity depends on the concentration of particles, such as silt and algae, suspended in the water. 

Too many particles can clog fish gills, hinder visibility for predators seeking prey and block sunlight from aquatic plants.

Levels of phosphorus and fecal coliform in the Myakka River have also increased since 2023. 

Rob Brown, Myakka City resident and former 34-year employee of Manatee County Natural Resources, said he’s going to return to commissioners with his own plan. 

He won’t be finished by the next budget meeting, but Brown is going to scour the comprehensive plan and land development code to show commissioners where they could be doing a better job of protecting the river and the country lifestyle. 

“I want them to realize that there are already rules, regulations and codes that could be better applied, especially in rural areas,” Brown said. “Those two golf courses are in the wrong place. Regulations that are currently in the code would’ve prohibited them.”