| Coastal restoration projects
consist of shoreline enhancement and habitat restoration
projects in the coastal areas of Sarasota County. Projects are overseen by Coastal
Resources staff and constitute the group's most active and
direct form of managing and protecting the county's coastal
resources.
Currently, specific examples of this service include
the Section 1135 Spoil Island Restoration project, the G-WIZ
Shoreline Restoration project and the South Lido Park
Restoration project. These projects result in removal of
nuisance invasive vegetation, creation or expansion of
beneficial native habitat and overall enhancement of the natural
coastal ecosystem.
The Gulf Shoreline Erosion
Control program explores opportunities and alternatives for
protecting the gulf shoreline of unincorporated Sarasota County
from the general erosion trends that have been prevalent in
recent years. Currently, Sarasota and Charlotte counties are
joined in the Beach Feasibility Study. As a result of this
study, the Sarasota County Commission may decide to pursue
some level of beach nourishment (or some other form of long term
erosion control) in specific areas along the barrier island
shorelines.
Midnight Pass
Reopening Report
Sarasota County is undertaking
the work necessary to plan, design and permit a Project to
Reopen Midnight Pass. This project will restore tidal flows to
Little Sarasota Bay, provide sand for beach nourishment,
stabilize the adjacent beaches, and afford an access to the Gulf
for boaters. Present studies underway will provide the
information needed to determine the environmental, economic
(costs and benefits) and scientific merits of this project.
Passages between inland waters
and the Gulf of Mexico are a vital part of this coastline and a
focal point of dynamic forces on these sandy shores. These
inlets are closely monitored and evaluated for multiple
purposes. In Sarasota, the inlet which has been talked about and
studied more than any other is currently closed. This is
Midnight Pass and is the focus of this report.
South Lido
Beach and Park Restoration Project
A grant totaling $300,000
will be spent to restore and protect beach dunes, coastal
grasslands and tidal mangroves, now endangered by exotic
vegetation and sidecast spoil mounds.
The South Lido Park
restoration project removed
nuisance exotic vegetation from 38-acres of South Lido Park.
The project leaves many of the larger Australian pine
trees in place to provide shade along the beach. The project
has not affected the area immediately adjacent to the parking
area. Restoration efforts include:
- removing exotic plants,
notably Brazilian pepper, Australian pine and carrotwood
- installation of native
plants
- cleaning out trash and
debris
- improving a tidal
connection
- building boardwalks
Partners for the project
include:
- Sarasota County
Government
- Manasota Basin Board and
the Surface Water Improvement and Management Program
- Southwest Florida Water
Management District
- Florida Department of
Environmental Protection
- Sarasota Bay National Estuary
Program
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service
- National Oceanographic
and Atmospheric Administration
The 105-acre county owned and
maintained South Lido Park is located on the southern
portion of Lido Key in Sarasota County. Dredge and fill
activities, dating back to the 1920s, have disturbed the
area and created ideal conditions for the invasion of exotic
vegetation. The park has shorelines along the Gulf of
Mexico, Big Pass and Sarasota Bay as well as several lagoons
within the park itself.
|
Beach Water Samples