Legislative Findings:
In 2008, the Florida Legislature amended Section 161.142, Florida Statutes, finding, “The Legislature recognizes the need for maintaining navigation inlets to promote commercial and recreational use of our coastal waters and their resources. The Legislature further recognizes that inlets interrupt or alter the natural drift of beach-quality sand resources, which often result in these sand resources being deposited in nearshore areas or in the inlet channel, or in the inland waterway adjacent to the inlet, instead of providing natural nourishment to the adjacent eroding beaches. Accordingly, the Legislature finds it is in the public interest to replicate the natural drift of sand which is interrupted or altered by inlets to be replaced and for each level of government to undertake all reasonable efforts to maximize inlet sand bypassing to ensure that beach-quality sand is placed on adjacent eroding beaches…”
Project Description:
Pensacola Pass hosts a Federally-authorized deepwater navigation channel that provides connectivity between the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Pensacola Harbor, and the Gulf of Mexico. The maintained deepwater navigation channel disrupts the natural transport of sand around the inlet between Santa Rosa Island and Perdido Key. Periodic maintenance dredging by the US Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) has placed some portion of the sands back into the littoral system, however the channel impacts the adjacent shorelines for miles in both directions including enhanced erosion due to sand starvation. This project will project the timing and scale of future dredging projects by the ACOE. These enhanced projections will facilitate the budget process by ACOE, environmental permtting requirements by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), and coordination with the US Department of the Navy and National Park Service. The ACOE is required to utilize a "least-cost" option for disposal of dredged sediments. Historically, that has been an off-shore disposal area in the Gulf of Mexico, removing these sands from our beach system. Under this program, the State of Florida and the County will assist the ACOE with the cost delta to place these sands along Johnson's Beach and provide long term benefit to public and private lands on Perdido Key.
Goals and Objectives:
- Increase resilience of critical natural resources and infrastructure
- Model the long-term benefits of sand bypassing for developed portions of Perdido Key
- Develop recommendations and strategies to maximize the beneficial reuse of sediments through sand bypassing to address “hot spot” erosional areas and chronic erosion due to sand starvation resulting from the channel
- "Least-cost" opportunity to help maintain "healthy" beaches through sand bypassing
- Maintain opportunity for public recreation at Johnson Beach and Ft Pickens
- Preserve habitat and nesting areas for listed species (Perdido Key Habitat Conservation Plan success)
- Increase potential federal permitting and funding support through resiliency objectives
Stakeholders:
Escambia County Board of County Commissioners – Recreation / Perdido Key HCP
Gulf Islands National Seashore (National Park Service) – Adjacent landowner
NAS Pensacola (Department of the Navy) – Navy Channel
City of Pensacola - Civil Channel
US Army Corps of Engineers (Mobile District) – Responsible for Maintenance
US Army Corps of Engineers (Jacksonville District) – Environmental Permitting
Florida Department of Environmental Protection – Environmental Permitting
Estimated Budget:
| Task |
Total Cost |
State |
Local |
| 1. Surveys |
$120,000 |
$90,000 |
$30,000 |
| 2. Inlet Management Study |
$175,000 |
$131,000 |
$43,750 |
| 3. Inlet Management Plan Development |
$120,000 |
$90,000 |
$30,000 |
| Total |
$415,000 |
$331,250 |
$103,750 |
Natural Resource Management staff is seeking additional supplemental funding for implementation through our project partners and RESTORE sources.
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