Florida Inlet Management Bill

Florida has over 60 inlets around the state, many have been artificially deepened to accommodate commercial and recreational vessels and employ jetties to prevent sand from filling in the channels. A by-product of this practice is that the jetties and the inlet channels have interrupted the natural flow of sand along the beach causing an accumulation of sand in the inlet channel and at the jetty on one side of the inlet, and a loss of sand to the beaches on the other side of the inlet. This issue has exasperated the amount of large beach dredging projects instead of looking back at the inlets to solve the problem. The state’s beach management efforts to finally address beach erosion caused by Florida’s inlets (80% of the problem) will include recommendations to mitigate the erosive impacts of the inlet and recommendations regarding cost sharing among the governments. This campaign was championed by chapters throughout Florida.