At its October 28 meeting, the Martin County Board of County Commissioners voted 4-0 to approve an interlocal agreement with the Town of Jupiter Island relating to the St. Lucie Inlet.
With this agreement, the parties will work collaboratively regarding Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) permits and the development of a new Inlet Management Plan (IMP).
The current Inlet Management Plan (IMP) was developed by the State of Florida in 1995 as part of their statewide comprehensive beach management plan. The intent was to evaluate each of the state’s improved or modified inlets to determine the extent of erosion and recommend corrective measures to mitigate beach erosion.
Since the current IMP was implemented, Martin County has participated in dredging projects on five occasions in 1998, 2002, 2007, 2012 and 2014. The County also completed construction of the impoundment basin in the Inlet in 2002 and performed improvements to the North Shore Jetty in 2009.
In addition, Martin County and the Town of Jupiter Island, Sailfish Point, and other partners have been meticulously collecting data in order to gain a better understanding of how sand travels, both north and south, along the coast along with the impacts of man-made structures, waves and tidal currents on that process.
The data will be used as Martin County and its partners create a more comprehensive IMP with FDEP for the benefit of the entire county. A draft version of the IMP is expected to be circulated early in 2015 for comments by stakeholders.
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Press Release