May 2025
FACT SHEET
St. Lucie Inlet, FL
Operations and Maintenance (O&M)
Congressional District: 21
1. DESCRIPTION
St. Lucie Inlet is located in Martin County on the Atlantic coast of Florida, approximately midway down the state. Section 201 of the Flood Control Act of 1965 authorized the project, which includes a channel 16 feet deep and 300 feet wide, tapering to 10 feet deep and 150 feet wide through the inlet, as well as a channel 7 feet deep and 100 feet wide between the inlet and the Intracoastal Waterway. Project modifications were authorized in 1974 to include a sediment impoundment basin adjacent to the north jetty, an extension of the north jetty (including 500ft. weir section), a detached breakwater immediately south of the entrance channel, and construction of a new south jetty. To date the only shortfall is that the south jetty was constructed 200 feet short of its authorized length.
2. FUNDING
a. Regular Civil Works Funds:
| Allocation for FY24 |
$0 |
| President's Budget FY26 |
TBD |
3. SPONSOR
Martin County Board of County Commissioners
2401 SE. Monterey Road
Stuart, Florida 34996
4. STATUS
The St. Lucie Inlet impoundment basin requires O&M dredging approximately every 3 years. The last O&M event was conducted in 2024 and was performed with a mechanical dredge and approximately 380k cubic yards of material was dredged and placed in a disposal area located offshore from Jupiter Island (Borrow Area B). This material will be dredged from Borrow Area B and placed on downdrift beaches in the future. Funding was received in FY 2022 for this event. Plans and Specifications for an upcoming rehabilitation of the South Jetty will be initiated in FY25 after a Major Maintenance Report was approved for justification of additional funds. The Major Maintenance Report was developed after the estimated cost for the jetty rehabilitation exceeded the $8M threshold.
