Manuel’s Branch, a creek in Fort Myers, has been under a microscope for years, and Fox 4 has been covering the issue since at least 2021.
The city addressed concerns about high levels of fecal bacteria in the water following a recent investigation. Fox 4’s Fort Myers Community Correspondent Austin Schargorodski was at Tuesday’s meeting when the city laid out what it said it was doing to address it.Watch to hear the city’s response to the fecal bacteria investigation at Manuel’s Branch:
Fort Myers laid out response to fecal bacteria concerns at Manuel’s Branch
This all started after Calusa Waterkeeper raised red flags about Manuel’s Branch, a creek just south of Lee Memorial Hospital. A two-year investigation showed consistently high fecal bacteria levels.
The group said the city stopped testing for human sources of bacteria in the summer of 2024. Calusa Waterkeeper volunteer Jason Pim said that could point to human waste and asked the city to step in with more testing and a clear plan.
“When you see a bacteria notification at a public beach, that number is 70. Here we get numbers all the time that are like 2,000, 4,000 range, as high as 10,000,” Pim said…