Dredged Material Management Planning for Florida's Intracoastal and Okeechobee Waterways

Increased environmental awareness and accompanying regulation during the 1970s made securing dredged material placement areas increasingly difficult and expensive, especially in Florida's high-growth and increasingly urbanized coastal corridor. To address this situation, in 1986 the Florida Inland Navigation District (FIND) - local sponsor for Florida's Intracoastal Waterway (ICWW) and Okeechobee Waterway (OWW) - embarked on a long-range planning program to ensure the Waterway's continued viability over its 502-channel mile length. The basic program objective is to locate, obtain, design, permit, and construct dredged material management sites capable of handling projected 50-year maintenance dredging requirements. This work has required close coordination with the Jacksonville District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), federal and state permitting agencies, local governments, and through numerous public workshops, local citizens' groups. Site acquisitions and construction projects are developed in conjunction with FIND's funding and grant cycles to establish project priorities. When complete, the program will comprise a permanent infrastructure of approximately 52 containment facilities and 8 beach placement sites designed to manage over 41.5 million cubic yards of material over the next 50 years and beyond.