COLUMN: From bayou to beaches, area evolves and erodes

Twenty-five years of exponential growth in Destin and change is in the air — and the water, the landscape, the coastline and the way we live. A population fluctuating with tourism and snowbirds has created a more intense relationship with the ecosystem we belong to.

It’s easy to take these changes for granted when everyday life gets wrapped around crowding on U.S. 98, keeping the fishing fleet going, debating the future of beach restoration and breathing fumes from the airport.

People have played the largest role in the way this area has shaped up since Destin became incorporated.

The largest example of human influence is in a tale The Log heard from Jean Melvin, director of the Destin History and Fishing Museum.

She said in 1926, O.T. Melvin and his boat crew decided to take the matter of rising waters along Holiday Isle into their own hands. They dug a small trench with shovels and boat oars from Choctawhatchee Bay to the Gulf of Mexico to give the rising water an outlet back out to the Gulf. Little did they know, nature would quickly take over and their small trench would erode into what is now East Pass.

The maneuver created one of Destin’s most popular natural attractions … a party spot we know as Crab Island.

The cartography of Crab Island has changed over time due to dredging and the coastal weather. The sandbar ranges in depth anywhere from two to ten feet, depending on the tide and the time of year.

Many can remember when Crab Island was above water just a few decades ago and inhabited by seagrass and nesting birds. It was a place families would picnic, go snorkeling or paddle around in a small boat. Now the underwater island’s smooth and curvy terrain has boaters dropping anchor to spend the day tubing, hunting hermit crabs and throwing a football.

The resulting changes of Crab Island have been more pleasing than what is happening on the other side of the Marler Bridge, where frequent dredging is required to ensure boats can get out of the harbor and into the Gulf.

Getting a handle on nature is a battle we’ve fought even harder as Destin has grown.

Causing perhaps more concern is how the beaches have melted away to critical proportions in some locations.

The Log’s coverage of beach restoration shows there is a clear line in the sand on where restoration should happen and who should pay for the expensive project. These are all issues that have developed since Destin became a city, putting many citizens at odds over where sand should be dumped and dredged to support our human activities.

Less noticeable to the general public is the erosion that’s happened to a large degree at Joe's Bayou. Fortunately, the city of Destin has a plan for the receding shoreline. The park is the site of a multi-phase restoration project to remove invasive species, create an oyster bar to sustain fish and crustacean species and add salt marsh plants to stabilize the eroding shoreline.

Joe Bodi, engineering assistant for the city of Destin's Public Services department, took The Log on a tour of the bayou and other wetlands around Destin to show the impact of human activity and invasive species.

The first stop was near Twin Lakes subdivision to see a portion of a small lake near the road that was coated with a dead, smelly sludge.

He explained how wetlands function as the kidneys of natural water systems by filtering out chemical runoff from the roads and lawn fertilizers, before the water is cycled back out to the bay.

Right beside the pond was vegetation where a predatory plant was taking over. Kudzu vines, while useful in other parts of the world, wer choking out the native wax myrtles, pines and magnolias along the pond.

Kudzu was also a problem at the next stop, Mattie Kelly Park. Here, Bodi showed where he and city employees had been working to manually remove the vines. Mattie Kelly Park has a public boardwalk where people can come to enjoy nature.

But Bodi said that back in the ’60s and ’70s, if land was deemed unbuildable, people considered it a dumping ground. Garbage remnants included cigarette butts and packages, broken bottles and old concrete curbs. Some of the trash was dated by rusted rip-top cans from the ’80s. A part of Bodi's job is to wade through the brush to remove this kind of trash and debris from the environment.

He said wetlands around Destin serve as a wildlife habitat and a natural filtration system for water before it is returned to the waterways we use for recreation. Simple “backyard” science can be applied to make sure each person is doing their part to take care of the environment around them.

The use of reclaimed water was introduced shortly after the time Destin became incorporated. Destin Water Users put reclaimed water capabilities in place when they began sending highly treated wastewater to the Indian Bayou Golf Course. They boast it’s one of the first systems in Florida.

Being conscious of the ecosystem is something that has even been incorporated into our main industry since it became hip to be green. Ecotourism is a fast growing niche among travelers looking for a good time, but not at nature’s expense.

Finally, the way we live everyday has been affected by a more conscious way of living in Destin.

The city has adopted a multimodal transportation system, Destin schools are getting more environmental education and Waste Management has given us the single-stream recycling option.

We live with environmental issues in Destin everyday and our relationship will continue to evolve with our needs and those of Mother Nature.

Jennifer Rich is a reporter at The Destin Log and can be reached at 850-654-8445.