Turkey Creek has friends on its side

Waterfront property owner John Mongioi is at home on Turkey Creek.

Photo by Ed Garland

When a dredging project in Turkey Creek wrapped up in 2001, area residents had a reason to celebrate. Years of stormwater deposits had filled many areas of the creek all the way to the mouth, displacing marine life and creating navigational nightmares.

The removal of more than 400,000 cubic yards of silt and sediment from the creek and its mouth -- a tributary of the Indian River Lagoon -- heralded instant improvements. Manatees and fish were returning. No longer were boaters stranded in a molasses-like quagmire of muck and sand. Business improved at the local marinas.

However, Turkey Creek's improved condition was short-lived, recalls John Mongioi, who built a waterfront home near Turkey Creek in 1972.

"After the dredging was completed, the creek began to refill," Mongioi says. "We thought we'd finally have navigable waters for years and within a year the creek was half full."

This crisis spawned the Friends of Turkey Creek (FOTC), a volunteer group comprising homeowners on Turkey Creek committed to balancing the protection of the creek and the lagoon while retaining waterway access for the community.

The FOTC illustrates how a small, grassroots group can effect a major impact on environmental initiatives. Led by a six-member advisory board, the group has persuaded Palm Bay city officials, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the St. Johns River Water Management District, the Melbourne-Tillman Water Control District, State Rep. Mitch Needelman and Congressman Dave Weldon to support the planning and funding of projects aimed at improving navigation and water quality in Turkey Creek and the Indian River Lagoon.

"The way we approached it is that we didn't want to be a bunch of complaining citizens," Mongioi says. "We want to help."

This attitude has helped the group convince city and state officials to approve plans for a sediment trap in the creek. In theory, the structure will capture suspended solids in the water that travels from Canal 1 through Turkey Creek before they settle out downstream and refill the creek and its mouth.

"We want to be an example on the East Coast," Mongioi says. "If you can learn how to save one tributary, you can save all of them."

The FOTC has also been working with the Corps to restore funding to the C-1 Rediversion Project, a project designed to reduce the amount of storm water flowing from Canal 1 to Turkey Creek by diverting water west to the St. Johns River. Other projects on the horizon include another maintenance dredging of the shoals in Turkey Creek and an effort to remove up to eight derelict vessels in Palm Bay waterways.

"The Friends of Turkey Creek is a model for citizens action groups everywhere," says Troy Rice, director of the Indian River Lagoon Program. "Its members are passionate about protecting Turkey Creek for the enjoyment of everyone. Their efforts have been a catalyst for funding projects that might not have evolved at such a rapid pace."