Indian River Lagoon Programs — Indian River County, Florida

The Lagoon Division of the county Natural Resources department carries out the Lagoon Management Plan along the county's 23 miles of Indian River Lagoon, from Sebastian Inlet south toward Fort Pierce Inlet.

The division describes its job as using science-driven data to carry out the county's Lagoon Management Plan, working with local, state and community partners to cut nutrient pollution, restore habitat and build inshore coastal resilience (Indian River County Lagoon Division). The division's page places the county in the central portion of the lagoon, between Sebastian Inlet on the north and Fort Pierce Inlet on the south, and the county's boating page puts the county's share of the lagoon at 23 miles (Boating in the Lagoon).

The same county page lists the division's recent milestones: plan adoption on September 26, 2023, two derelict vessels taken out of the lagoon in winter 2026, a pump out vessel program launching in 2026, and 21 docks fitted through the Living Docks partnership with the Florida Institute of Technology (Indian River County). The page gives no start date or service area yet for the pump-out boat.

The Lagoon Management Plan the county adopted on September 26, 2023 names 17 key factors affecting the lagoon in Indian River County, sets goals and objectives for them and lists projects and best management practices.

The plan lists projects and best management practices for county managers and for residents, is used to fill data gaps and rank projects, and is kept as a living document; the county says project updates come once a year, with the key factors, goals and objectives evaluated on a routine basis (Lagoon Management Plan page). The plan document and its project list are posted as links from that Lagoon Division page.

An older plan still guides permit reviews. Indian River County was identified as one of 13 key Florida counties to develop a Manatee Protection Plan, prepared with Florida Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and approved in 2004; federal, state and local agencies use it when they review permit applications in the county (Manatee Protection Plan page). The county links that plan to the FWC map of speed and manatee protection zones on the lagoon.

The county's habitat work sits at Big Slough near Sebastian Inlet, Preacher's Hole near the Wabasso Causeway, a spoil island south of the Merrill Barber Bridge in Vero Beach and on residents' dock pilings.

Seagrass comes first because so much of it vanished. NOAA Fisheries reports that a series of severe algal blooms between 2011 and 2020 wiped out nearly 75 percent of the lagoon's seagrass. Its feature story places Big Slough by Sebastian Inlet and Preacher's Hole by the Wabasso Causeway, and says both sites were picked because they historically supported seagrass and sit in calmer, more protected water (NOAA Fisheries). Steel cages go over the plantings, and permits let them stay for up to one year.

The money is a NOAA Transformational Habitat Grant awarded to the Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program, with Indian River County among 10 partners and 15 projects in the award; the county's partner on the plantings is Sea and Shoreline (county Seagrass Restoration page).

The two official accounts of the plantings differ. The county Seagrass Restoration page lists 12.8 acres at Big Slough and 20 acres at Preacher's Hole, while the NOAA Fisheries story says staff and partners planted about 13 acres at Big Slough and another 10 acres at Preacher's Hole in 2025.

For oysters, the division built the Lauren's Island reef on a spoil island just south of the Merrill Barber Bridge, where county staff and volunteers set almost 500 concrete reef balls of about 50 pounds each in a double ring around the island (county Oyster Restoration page). The county gives three reasons for reefs: oysters filter water, provide habitat and break waves that would erode the shoreline.

Living Docks spreads the same idea to private piers. Mesh mats holding 60 to 80 dried oyster shells are strapped to existing pilings to collect oyster spat, and county staff check each dock's mats every six months and pass the data to the Indian River Lagoon Research Institute at Florida Tech (county Living Docks page).

The Lagoon Division removes derelict boats from the lagoon and the St. Sebastian River once FWC authorizes it, and it is working with local municipalities on anchoring limitation areas, with a 2025 ordinance proposed for Vero Beach and Indian River Shores.

On the Indian River Lagoon, an anchoring limitation area caps anchoring at 45 consecutive days in any 6-month period. Violations can bring citations and a 48-hour impoundment, and more than three violations in 12 months can get a boat declared derelict or a public nuisance; any area that is approved must be clearly marked with signs and buoys, and the county says all of its work on these areas follows sections 327.40 and 327.41, Florida Statutes (county Anchoring Limitation Areas page).

The Board of County Commissioners scheduled a public hearing for August 19, 2025 in the County Commission Chambers, Building A of the County Administrative Complex at 1801 27th Street, on an ordinance amending Chapter 932, Coastal Management, to create anchoring limitation areas for the City of Vero Beach and the Town of Indian River Shores, citing section 327.4108, Florida Statutes (county hearing notice). The Lagoon Division page, checked October 12, 2026, still describes the areas as being established, and no adopted boundaries were verified for this page.

For wrecks, the Lagoon Division watches at-risk and derelict boats with FWC law enforcement and does the hauling once FWC signs off (county Derelict Vessel Removal page). It lists the harm a derelict hull does in the lagoon: navigation hazards, debris, leaking oil, fuel and paint, and damage to oyster reefs, shoreline plants and seagrass. Boaters can also help keep sewage out of the lagoon by using designated pump-out stations, part of the clean boating practices the county promotes under the program the Florida Department of Environmental Protection set up in 2001 (Boating in the Lagoon).

Residents can apply for a Living Dock, build oyster mats at volunteer events such as the November 6, 2026 session at Wabasso Causeway Park, and report derelict boats or injured wildlife to the county or FWC.

The next listed volunteer date is a First Friday oyster mat building event on November 6, 2026, from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM at the north pavilion of Wabasso Causeway Park, 1820 Wabasso Beach Road, with sign-up through the county's volunteer registration (county Volunteer page).

A Living Dock starts with the owner's application. County staff inspect the dock to see whether the site suits oyster mats, schedule a community workshop where volunteers assemble the mats and fasten them to the pilings, and return six months later to assess what has settled (Indian River County Living Docks). Oysters, tunicates and barnacles are the filter feeders the mats are meant to attract.

Owners on the Indian River Lagoon who want a softer edge than a seawall can look at living shorelines of native plants, oysters, sand or rock. Those usually need state and federal permits, but the county notes that homeowners may qualify for an exemption (county Living Shorelines page).

Reports go two ways. Derelict boats go through the county's Derelict Vessel Reporting Form linked from the Derelict Vessel Removal page, while the county's boating page asks anyone who sees injured wildlife or a boating violation to call FWC's Wildlife Alert Hotline, 888-404-3922 (Boating in the Lagoon). A sick, injured, dead or tagged manatee is reported to the same number, ideally with a photo and a GPS location (Manatee Protection Plan page).

Last verified: October 12, 2026, on the Indian River County Lagoon Division home page and its Lagoon Management Plan, Seagrass Restoration, Oyster Restoration, Living Docks, Anchoring Limitation Areas, Derelict Vessel Removal, Manatee Protection Plan, Living Shorelines, Boating in the Lagoon and Volunteer pages, and on the county's August 19, 2025 anchoring ordinance hearing notice.