Water off Navarre Park has a pollution problem, and its source remains a mystery

The Santa Rosa County branch of the Florida Department of Health has issued a water quality advisory for Santa Rosa Sound waters in the vicinity of Navarre Park and the Navarre Beach Welcome Center.

In issuing an advisory, the Health Department warns against any water-related activities at the location cited due to the potential for high bacteria levels.

"Bacteriological sampling conducted during regular water quality monitoring showed that the level of bacteria exceeds the level established by state guidelines," a news release on the water quality advisory said. "Contact with water may pose increased risk of infectious disease, especially for susceptible individuals."

You may like: Pensacola & Perdido Bays Estuary Program to award $250K in grants to protect local waters

More like this: Santa Rosa commissioners have concerns about a 'no brainer' water quality program. Here's why

It is the third such advisory issued for Navarre Park in the last three months, though it is unclear if any type of investigation has been launched to find out what might be causing such consistent releases of enterococci bacteria into the waterway.

Twice a month during the summer, local Health Department officials monitor county waterways for enterococci – a bacteria found in the intestinal tracts of humans and animals – at four locations: Navarre Park, Navarre Pier, Navarre Beach west and Shoreline Park. Water quality was found to be good at all locations other than Navarre Park, where it was found to be poor, in testing conducted Aug. 7 and again on Aug. 9.

The advisory was posted after the poor result showed up for the second time on Aug. 9, according to the Health Department's Healthy Beaches website.

Waters off Navarre Park had received a score of good on July 24, but the quality of the water had been found to be poor, with 70.5 or more bacteria found per 100 milliliters of marine water, in testing conducted June 26 and 28 and July 10 and 12. Swimming advisories were issued June 28 and July 12.

The findings appear to be a fairly recent phenomenon. The last time before June 26 Navarre Park had received a poor rating was April 18 of 2022. The finding occurred just twice in 2021, and the last time a swimming advisory had been issued was Aug. 8 of 2021.

The presence of enterococci often results from stormwater runoff following a weather event. Health Department spokeswoman Dana Grissom did not attribute recent water quality issues at Navarre Park to weather or anything else, and she said any investigation to find a cause of pollution off the park would have to be conducted by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

Efforts to reach DEP spokeswoman Ashley Livingston were not immediately successful.

Santa Rosa County Commissioner Ray Eddington, whose district encompasses Navarre, said he was made aware of conditions at Navarre Park late Friday and had scheduled a Monday meeting with County Administrator DeVann Cook to discuss the issue. He said he'd like to encourage better communication between the county and the local branch of the Health Department.

Summer fun: Sick of the heat? Here are all the Pensacola area splash pads where kids can cool down

The Health Department advisory stated that the water quality advisory issued Friday did not impact the Navarre Park splash pad. But local biologist Barbara Albrecht wondered if the splash pad might be what is sending harmful bacteria into the Santa Rosa Sound.

"I can't say for sure because I haven't been testing out there," Albrecht said in an email. "But you've got a splash pad and lots of little people with diapers on."

Others speculate that the Holley Navarre Water System, which pumps treated wastewater into a Rapid Infiltration Basin System at Williams Creek, which runs beside the park, could be to blame.

"Williams Creek water is just putrefying the march grass there," said Navarre-area resident Carmen Reynolds. "I believe that's attributable to the high bacteria levels at Navarre Park."

Linda Young, who retired after years of managing Florida's Clean Water Network, lives close to the park. She said the problems there have been years in the making.

"The county just keeps destroying wetlands and any kind of protection Mother Nature would provide," she said. "This is not a new problem. The problem is all the storm water that runs down into the areas where people swim."

Brittany Ellars, a spokesperson for Santa Rosa County, said the county does not track visitation at Navarre Park, which features two picnic pavilions and a playground alongside the splash pad, and could not state whether park attendance had been impacted by the recent water quality issues.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Santa Rosa Sound at Navarre Park closed to swimming once again