Due to the removal of the Cape North Spreader Barrier in 2008, the back bay of the Matlacha Aquatic Preserve has seen a huge change, which has caused the sealife of the estuary to die off or migrate to another area.

Noel Andress, owner and broker of SunMark Realty Pine Island, is a fifth generation Florida native who has lived on Pine Island for 21 years. He also has a master's degree in geology.

He said before Cape Coral was developed, there were tidal creeks that would drain the interior water and flow out to Matlacha Pass.

When Cape Coral was developed, he said that pattern was disturbed.

When the Rosen Brothers began developing Cape Coral in the 1970s, they harvested land from the marshes and dug canals, which the court put a halt to in order to protect the aquatic reserves.

Retired Biologist and Aquatic Ecologist Nancy Hindenach, a Matlacha resident, said the courts mandated that a barrier had to put in, which acted as the stormwater treatment that protected the reserve. She said all the runoff and septic tank waste was kept behind the barrier.

The barrier was finally installed, with a 7,500-pound weight limit for the boat lift, which transferred boats from behind the barrier to the preserve. She said the reason behind the lift was to limit the size of the boat, along with retaining the water in the estuary.

"It would allow pollutants to settle out and reduce the amount of turbulence," Hindenach said.

The lift eventually broke down because it was not being monitored or repaired, they said.

Hindenach said after the barrier was removed in July 2008, sedimentation has almost tripled in exposure in the back bay of the Matlacha Pass Aquatic Preserve. The erosion, she said, is occurring within the spreader system due to the velocity of the water slowing down and everything settling in the estuary of the back bay.

The exposure is taking place, she said, because Matlacha Pass is kind of a node between the currents coming out of the Caloosahatchee and Charlotte Harbor. Hindenach said with the removal of the barrier, sediments accumulate rather than wash out.

"If the ecosystem crashes, it will take a long time to recover because it doesn't flush well," she said.

The barrier acted as the only obstacle between the 7-mile waterway and the estuary, which created movement that sustained the estuary. Hindenach said now when the tide comes in and out, instead of it coming through the mangrove and the bay, it is able to go in and out of the canal where the barrier used to restrict that interaction.

Due to the removal, she said, the water quantity and quality has changed in the back bay. Hindenach said with the change in tides and currents, she has seen a dramatic change in the estuary.

"You can see the erosion on the banks of the spreader wall," she said because when picked up by the strong current, the sediment is carried along until it reaches the bay where it settles.

The barrier, Andress said, allowed for the stormwater to come from all the canals that were dug in Cape Coral to go back and flow into the historic creeks west of the spreader itself.

"The barrier was serving the function for a long time," he said.

The barrier allowed the sediments to settle at the bottom of the canal and not be dispersed out in the Matlacha Pass, he said.

"By taking the barrier out, we are seeing the evidence of it," Andress said.

He said what is happening since the barrier was taken out, is stormwater from Cape Coral is being distributed directly into Matlacha Pass, which is a pristine estuary.

When the velocity of the water body is increased, Andress said it is able to carry out larger particles for greater distances.

"As the velocity slows down, because when you get to the bay it is not constricted anymore, it allows the velocity to drop and the sediments settle out," he said.

In addition to the increased sedimentation, the sealife of the estuary has also decreased.

"This is the estuary where all the reproduction takes place," Hindenach said, adding that the sea grass beds have been smothered and the oysters are being killed. "The oysters are all dead, it is really sad."

This proposes a problem because the sea grass beds and oysters are two water quality indicators that are used to determine if the water is impaired or not.

"This is an area of 86 endangered and threatened species," Hindenach said, because many of the animals take refuge in the waters of the Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Preserve, which Matlacha Pass is a part of.

"This is what our economy is based on why people come here."

Hindenach has seen a dramatic change in the ecosystem since she moved to Matlacha, which was shortly after the barrier was built in 1980.

"For a long time we had the shorebirds all nesting along the mangrove and manatees would come through and the oysters were here," she said. "This is a very unique biological area."

A parade of manatees would enter the estuary every morning and evening, Hindenach said, which changed in the last three years because there is no food left for them to eat. She said there is no sea grass for the manatees and no fish for the dolphins to enjoy the estuary.

Those that can migrate do, she said, and those who cannot end up dying.

A very low tide is expected at 10:34 Tuesday morning for those interested in seeing the increased exposure in the back bay, which can be viewed off of Shoreview Drive in Matlacha.