May 2025
FACT SHEET
Fort Myers Beach, FL
Operations and Maintenance (O&M)
Congressional Districts: 17, 19
1. DESCRIPTION
The project consists of a channel 12 feet deep and 150 feet wide in San Carlos Bay until the east side of Bowditch Point, thence 12 feet deep and 125 feet wide from that depth and location in San Carlos Bay into Estero Pass at the intersection of San Carlos Blvd Bridge, thence 11 feet deep and 125 feet wide in Matanzas Pass to the upper shrimp terminals terminating at a turning basin located approximately 1000 feet away. Length of project is about 2.5 miles.
2. FUNDING
| Allocation for FY25 |
$0 |
| President’s Budget FY26 |
TBD |
a. P.L 116-20: Disaster Relief Act of 2019:
| Total Work Plan |
$4,200,000 |
| Allocation Thru FY24 |
$4,156,000 |
| Allocation for FY25 |
$0 |
b. P.L. 117-58: Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act:
| Total Work Plan |
$4,100,000 |
| Allocation thru FY24 |
$4,100,000 |
| Allocation for FY25 |
$0 |
c. P.L. 117-43: Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act:
| Total Work Plan |
$10,000,000 |
| Allocation thru FY24 |
$10,000,000 |
| Allocation for FY25 |
$0 |
3. SPONSOR
Lee County Natural Resources Division
1500 Monroe Street, 3rd Floor
Fort Myers, FL 33901
4. STATUS
Fort Myers Beach O&M (Matanzas Pass) was last dredged between August and October 2020. Prolonged shoaling from Bowditch Point continues to encroach across the federal channel causing the navigable waterway to be pushed northerly. The federal channel was re-established along the north side of Bowditch Point after 151,252 cubic yards of material was removed from the channel and placed in the nearshore disposal area located south of the inlet. Only a few months following the dredging event shoaling was reported by the US Coast Guard to be occurring off Bowditch Point. Currently, Bowditch Point has shoaled across the federal channel. Following the receipt of BIL appropriations, plans and specifications were prepared for an early FY23 award for maintenance dredging. However, Hurricane Ian impacted the area in late September 2022 and the Corps had to amend the plans and specifications based on post-storm conditions for the area. The FY23 maintenance dredging event was awarded in June 2023 and completed in September 2023. The Corps continues to evaluate realignment of the channel away from Bowditch Point to alleviate the chronic shoaling issues.
Funding in the amount of $10M was appropriated in DRSAA 2022 to prepare plans & specs for re-baseline of the channel from Cut 1 to the turning basin. Supplemental NEPA for expanded nearshore and beach placement scoping notice went out 13 Feb 25. No seagrasses within work footprint, but present within 150m buffer. Geotechnical investigations indicate that the material is too silty, dark, and shelly for direct beach placement. However, most of the material meets the criteria for nearshore placement. New FDEP permit is required. In a parallel effort, there is an Regional Sediment Management Regional Center of Expertise (RSM-RCX) shoaling analysis and beneficial use of dredged material options effort funded in FY2024 Work Plan ($500k).
