Treasure Coast - Wednesday July 24, 2024: The St. Lucie Inlet dredging project is finally underway after a delay caused by the need to re-locate a nest of Queen Conch, which is a threatened species.
The dredging was set to start on July 2, but it was suspended when the Queen Conch were discovered on June 28 within the planned dredging area.
The Queen Conch was only recently listed as a threatened species, which means it is likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Jacksonville District, is managing the project. The project's non-federal sponsor is Martin County Public Works.
A news release from the Corps explains that once the conch were discovered they submitted an "Urgent and Compelling Need" request to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) seeking approval to relocate the conch away from the project area in order to protect the threatened species.
Once the National Marine Fisheries Service approved the Corps' request, a specially licensed contractor successfully relocated the Queen Conch and on Friday July 19 the temporary suspension of the dredging project was lifted. The dredging finally got underway last Saturday, July 20.
The depth of the inlet is required to be between 10 and 16 feet, but sand has raised the channel depth to less than 7-feet making it a hazard for some vessels entering and exiting the Inlet.
On March 15 the Corps awarded a $9.2 million dredging contract to Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company. The contract calls for dredging the St. Lucie Inlet entrance channel and impoundment basin to the required depths of 10 to16 feet, with an allowable over depth of 2 feet, in order to maintain a safe depth for vessels.
All the material that is dredged up from the channel will be placed in the permitted ocean disposal area which lies approximately 10.6 nautical miles southeast of the inlet.
The contract also calls for turbidity monitoring, trawling and environmental species monitoring.
Dredging and placement will be continuous, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, until the project is complete. The projected completion is tentatively set for the end of September 2024.