May 2023
FACT SHEET
Ft. George Inlet (111)
Construction (C)
Congressional Districts: 4, 5
1. DESCRIPTION
The Ft. George Inlet, an access point for the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway via the Ft. George River, has suffered severe erosion and accretion along its shoreline due to formation and continued growth of a shoal north of the St. Johns River entrance. This shoal is currently used as a Duval County public park (Huguenot Park). Impacts potentially began to occur after the 1930s sand tightening of the federal jetty along the northern bank of the St. Johns River (accretion of sand on north end of Huguenot Park and in the inlet).
As a result, significant erosion has occurred to the south end of Little Talbot Island State Park, causing the removal of the boardwalk and parking areas. The Florida Parks Service, as the non-federal sponsor, would like to reduce or eliminate the accelerating loss of State Park lands, threats to existing State Park infrastructure, the need to continually extend the S.R. A1A revetment into the State Park and maintain and/or improve State Park recreational opportunities. This ongoing study will develop alternatives to restore lost shoreline from Little Talbot Island State Park and stabilize the Ft. George Inlet.
2. FUNDING
| Estimated Total Cost |
$1,255,000 |
| Estimated Federal Cost |
$1,255,000 |
| Allocation thru FY22 |
$1,255,000 |
| Allocation for FY23 |
$0 |
| President’s Budget FY24 |
$0 |
3. SPONSOR
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
Division of Recreation and Parks
4. STATUS
The Feasibility Cost Share Agreement (FCSA) was signed on 3 September 2020. Since execution of the agreement, the Project Delivery Team (PDT) has focused on identifying the final array of alternatives which were formerly presented to the sponsor in mid-December 2021. These alternatives consisted of a 750 linear feet or 1,000 linear feet rock groin with associated channel dredging. Each of these alternatives would exceed the Section 111 federal limit of $12.5M total through construction. In October 2022, the non-federal sponsor provided written concurrence on the 1,000 linear foot groin and associated dredging, however with the estimated total cost totaling $40M the sponsor will work to seek a congressional fix to exceed the $12.5M federal limit for this project to move forward. Meanwhile, the PDT will complete the draft report and District Quality Control (DQC) review by mid-June 2023 and stop all work until a congressional fix is successfully authorized.
