JACKSONVILLE, Florida -- Planning has begun for maintenance dredging of the Everglades Harbor and Channel in Everglades City, Collier County, Florida.
With $5 million in funding made available under the Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2022, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District has begun preparing plans and specifications for the first maintenance dredging of the federal project in more than half a century.
To that end, the USACE team conducted a site visit and public meeting Feb. 1, 2024, to engage the Everglades Harbor community, update them on the status of project planning and solicit input regarding potential locations for dredged material placement, additional community concerns and possible challenges to the upcoming effort.
Moving forward, the team will coordinate with the public and responsible state and local agencies, initiate required permitting, conduct a NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act of 1969) analysis and prepare plans and specs for maintenance dredging.
The federal project consists of a channel 8 feet deep and 60 feet wide from that depth in the Gulf of Mexico to mile 1.5 in Barron River, with a turning basin about half an acre in area near its upper end. The total length of the project is about 9.2 miles.
It was initially constructed in 1963 and last dredged in 1965. The project’s non-federal sponsor is the City of Everglades, Florida.
For more information, please visit the Everglades Harbor Project webpage at: https://www.saj.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Navigation/Navigation-Projects/Everglades-Harbor-and-Channel/.
Release no. 24-008