On December 5, 2013, Siesta Key Association hosted a presentation of the preliminary plan for a Lido Beach Renourishment Project. In response to the community’s concerns, SKA submitted a list of project questions to the ACOE. While most were answered, there are several remaining to be addressed.
The city of Sarasota requested this project be designed by the Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) for renourishing the Lido Key Beach. Lido Key has been renourished many times during the past 35 years. It is designated, along with much of the shoreline in Sarasota County, as critically eroded.
The ACOE has proposed a plan to remove or “borrow” sand for this renourishment from the ebb shoal of Big Pass. They believe the observed increase on the Big Pass ebb shoal is due to sand migrating from the previously renourished portions of Lido Beach. Part of their model is “transferential”, or recycling of sand they believe has drifted from renourished Lido Beach to the ebb shoal of Big Pass.
However, there is not sufficient amount to safely take more than 1.5% of the ebb shoal sand.
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Press Release, January 14, 2014