What Is Lagoon-Friendly?

Living Lagoon-Friendly is a call to action.

We are each responsible for the wide variety of pollutants that enter the Indian River Lagoon (IRL), and we each have a role to play in bringing it back to health.

How can you act? Identify the problems you can control and work to correct those problems. It’s that simple.

For homeowners, living Lagoon-Friendly means changing a few behaviors and household habits to make sure your property doesn’t harm lagoon health.

For local governments and municipalities, the concept is the same. Take steps to ensure the community doesn’t add to the many issues already affecting the IRL.

Florida is the third most populous state in the nation, with an estimated 24 million people as of 2026. Approximately 1.8 million people call the IRL region home.

Our water quality issues are already large, difficult to fix and expensive. Solutions won’t become less daunting by continuing to defer restoration actions.

We can no longer afford to ignore or only partially address our water quality issues. Both human health and economic health depend on implementing science-based solutions.

Building on the four Rs found in Brevard County’s Save Our Indian River Lagoon Plan, the IRLNEP developed a set of 10 Rs for living Lagoon-Friendly. These are concrete actions and attributes, like “reduce,” “remove” and “restore,” that anyone can undertake.

We designed these to help both local governments and homeowners identify their areas of jurisdiction and responsibility. Whether you’re an official, business owner or resident, you can then take action to address what’s within your control.

How Lagoon-Friendly Choices Make a Difference

Collectively, governments, agencies, scientists and citizens need to forge a pathway forward to correct past problems and look toward the future. This is especially crucial as Florida continues to grow.

The IRLNEP and our many partners and stakeholders are committed to protecting, preserving and restoring the lagoon’s natural resources.

In turn, we support a robust regional economy, healthy communities, continued quality of life and a bright future.

Solving the problems plaguing the IRL will require many things:

• Greater financial commitment
• Stable, recurring funding
• Strong political will at every level
• Ongoing public resolve from residents, visitors and partners

Learning to live Lagoon-Friendly helps all parties make conscious decisions about how they care for their facilities, landscapes and homes.

Taken together, these decisions can improve biodiversity, water quality and habitats throughout the lagoon.

Donate to One Lagoon through the IRLNEP to support projects that improve water quality and protect the IRL for generations to come.