Preserving Our Coastal Waters

Healthy Ponds: Improved Flood Control and Cleaner Water

Empowering Suncoast communities to reduce erosion in their stormwater detention ponds to maximize flood control and improve water quality that curbs harmful algal blooms like Red Tide through best management practices.

Why It Matters

Bank erosion in stormwater ponds reduces holding capacity for flood control and stormwater runoff accounts for 65% of the excess nutrients in our waterways that feed Red Tide and other Harmful Algal Blooms. START (Solutions To Avoid Red Tide) is a 501 (C) (3) grassroots nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing damaging nutrient loads to protect Florida’s coastal ecosystems. Founded in 1996 after a devastating Red Tide event, START’s promotes community-driven solutions rooted in public education and measurable impacts.

Our Healthy Ponds Initiative

The Healthy Pond Collaborative was launched to help neighborhoods enhance the performance of their stormwater detention ponds, a critical filtering tool for stormwater runoff before it reaches our bays and the Gulf. Most local stormwater ponds operate at only 40% to 60% efficiency in removing excess nutrients. The Healthy Pond Collaborative provides hands-on guidance and financial support for communities to enhance pond performance through landscaping, irrigation and fertilizing best maintenance practices.

Thanks to generous funding from the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation and the Gulf Coast Community Foundation, START offers attractive Healthy Pond grants that help community associations and local stakeholders to implement pond enhancements.

What does START do to help reduce excess nutrients already in our waterways? START continues to help fund the Sarasota Bay Watch’s Clam Seeding Program that has seeded over 2 million water-filtering clams in Sarasota Bay and our Shuck ‘N Save Restaurants continue to provide shell from their diners to the oyster restoration project in the Manatee River.

Join START and concerned citizens in our ongoing advocacy program to encourage federal, state and local policy makers to take action to keep unwanted nutrients that feed Red Tide out of our waterways.

Healthy Ponds: Improved Flood Control and Cleaner Water

Why It Matters

Our Healthy Ponds Initiative

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