Many of the houses in the Keys, packed side by side, have inadequate sewage treatment. Residents worry about the high cost to upgrade them. Near-shore tropical waters that once were sparkling turquoise are now milky green or, in the worst areas, the color of pea soup. Scientists warn against swimming close to shore, particularly in canals that have become long fingers of stagnant, lifeless water. With 80,000 permanent residents throughout the Keys and 2 million tourists each year, the surrounding marine environment is being stressed beyond its limits.
Sewage is the problem.
Most of the Keys do not have modern sewage-treatment plants. Local officials and residents have long resisted making the tough and expensive decisions necessary to protect the quality of the sea water in and around the Keys. But that may be changing. Spurred on by a barrage of alarming scientific studies, officials in the Keys say they are now ready to build the kind of waste-water treatment infrastructure that should have been in place more than a quarter century ago. There's just one catch, they say.