Brevard County Environment: the Indian River Lagoon, Sanctuaries and Mosquito Control

The Indian River Lagoon is a 156-mile-long estuary, and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection lists Brevard among only four counties whose lands sit directly beside its impaired portions (Florida DEP basin management action plans).

The Indian River Lagoon program at OneLagoon.org describes the system as three connected water bodies, Mosquito Lagoon, the Banana River and the Indian River Lagoon itself, spread across seven counties from Volusia to Palm Beach, with more than 4,000 species of animals and plants documented (About the Indian River Lagoon).

The state's cleanup tool for the Indian River Lagoon is the basin management action plan: DEP keeps a set of Indian River Lagoon BMAPs, and its nutrient BMAPs combine solutions such as permit limits on wastewater facilities and urban and agricultural best management practices to reach the pollutant reductions set by a TMDL (FDEP BMAP page). The county's own tool is the SOIRL half-cent sales tax, explained in the next section and in the Brevard SOIRL lagoon sales tax guide.

Brevard's lagoon tax is a half-cent sales surtax that the county code says commenced on January 1, 2017, with every dollar going to a dedicated Indian River Lagoon project trust fund (Brevard County Code, Chapter 46, Article X).

The Indian River Lagoon code, adopted through Ordinances 2016-15 and 2016-24, sets up the trust fund in section 46-399 and a volunteer citizen oversight committee in section 46-400 that responds to monitoring data and recommends plan revisions to the Brevard County Commission each year (county code article).

On November 3, 2026 every registered Brevard County voter decides whether to renew the existing Indian River Lagoon half-cent sales tax for ten years. The ballot wording lists muck removal, pollution reduction, water quality and fish and wildlife habitat, and would require deposit of all revenue to a trust fund, with continued citizen committee oversight and annual independent audits (Brevard Supervisor of Elections referenda list). The Brevard SOIRL lagoon sales tax guide covers what the trust fund can pay for, who oversees the money, why Palm Bay and Melbourne do not get a share and the 2026 ballot question.

Brevard County's Environmentally Endangered Lands Program, established in 1990, acquires and manages environmentally endangered lands and provides opportunities for passive recreation and environmental education (Brevard County EEL Program).

Residents reaffirmed their support with a second referendum in 2004, and a 30-Year Anniversary Report covers 1990 to 2020. The program page highlights Enchanted Forest Sanctuary, the Barrier Island Center and Sams House at Pine Island, and the program works through partnerships with federal, state and local agencies (EEL Program page). The county defines passive recreation as activities that do not abuse the natural resources, biological diversity or environmental qualities of a site. The EEL administrative office, led by Program Manager Mike Knight, is at 91 East Drive, Melbourne, phone (321) 255-4466, open Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

The Environmentally Endangered Lands program calendar is the practical starting point. For mid October 2026 it lists Saturday bird walks at Sams House at Pine Island Conservation Area every Saturday at 9 AM with no registration, an experienced-only off-the-path hike at Enchanted Forest Sanctuary on October 16, and a native plant sale on October 17 (EEL Program calendar). Environmentally Endangered Lands and Water Areas appears as its own entry on the Tax Collector's list of taxing authorities (Brevard County Tax Collector). The Brevard Environmentally Endangered Lands Program guide covers how the program is paid for, which sanctuaries it manages and how its lands are managed.

Brevard County Mosquito Control works from 800 Perimeter Road in Titusville and posts scheduled spray areas on a phone line updated daily after 4:00 PM and on an online Spray Area Map (Brevard County Mosquito Control).

That spray line is (321) 264-5032 Ext. 1, and general calls split at Wickham Road: (321) 264-5032 north of Wickham Road and (321) 952-4523 south of it. The director is Joseph Faella. Field staff work 6 to 7 days a week from 7:00 AM to 2:00 PM on field counts and trap monitoring, larvae dipping and larviciding, and adulticiding (Mosquito Control page).

Treatments stop during active rainfall and when winds exceed 10 to 15 mph, for truck or aerial work. The page also explains why spraying can seem not to work in Brevard's salt marshes: salt marsh mosquito eggs hatch 5 to 7 days after rain or tides raise the water, more than 20,000 eggs can come from 1 square inch of salt marsh soil, and despite a 90% kill effect new broods can hatch the following day (Brevard County Mosquito Control). Brevard Mosquito Control is listed as its own taxing authority by the Tax Collector (Tax Collector taxing authorities). The Brevard Mosquito Control guide adds the South Area facility in Valkaria, the millage and the weather rules in more detail.

The Brevard County Natural Resources Management Office in Viera handles beaches, boating and waterways, environmental permitting, remediation and compliance, stormwater management and lagoon restoration (Brevard County Natural Resources Management Office).

Its director is Virginia Barker, and the office is reached at (321) 633-2016 or at 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Viera (Natural Resources Management Office). Its Stormwater Program covers drainage management, flood prevention and water quality protection, and its GIS Natural Resources Viewer maps Brevard lagoon restoration project locations and progress. The office also runs a monofilament recovery program for recycling fishing line and a rain barrel program (Brevard County Natural Resources).

The table maps the common environment questions for Titusville, Melbourne, Palm Bay and the rest of the county to the key fact and the guide in this section that goes deeper.

The three Brevard guides are standing references, while the ballot question and the Environmentally Endangered Lands events calendar change by date (EEL Program). Last verified: October 15, 2026, on the Brevard County Government website.