Experts warn Sarasota Bay water quality suffers after Debby

Increased fish kill and algal blooms may be the result of sewage spills and other pollutants that entered the bay as a result of the storm.

Experts with Suncoast Waterkeeper and the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program agree: It’s not safe to swim in the bay right now.

A week after Hurricane Debby dumped large amounts of rain on the Sarasota Bay area, local experts are cautioning the public about potential negative side effects to the safety of the bay. This includes the reported millions of gallons of sewage discharged from municipalities that entered local waterways.

These impacts, and more, came from then-Tropical Storm Debby’s copious rainfall, which overwhelmed wastewater systems and brought pollutants into the bay. The full scope of the impacts is still to be determined.

“You can’t have this much rainfall without water quality being adversely impacted,” said Dave Tomasko, executive director for the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program.