St. Lucie Inlet News

[teejayevans]

MARTIN COUNTY, Florida (YN) - The St Lucie Inlet needs dredging.　 Martin County Commissioners were told by their Coastal Engineer Kathy Fitzpatrick Tuesday that so much sand has drifted into the inlet that the Coast Guard is considering pulling their navigation buoys for safety concerns.

County Engineer Don Donaldson told commissioners the St Lucie Inlet is tricky to begin with. Time is running out to dredge the inlet. The county is going to ask Congressman Tom Rooney to help push for funding from Washington.

Editorial comment:
All that stimulus money, and they couldn't find the cash to dredge the various class B inlets (Ponce, St. Augustine, St Lucie, etc).

Tom

[Khagan1227]

That's probably because the money was used to stimulate the POCKETS of our elected leader's friends.

[AnchorageGuy]

Dredging and funding in Florida is handled by FIND, the Florida Inland Navigational District, F.I.N.D. Florida Inland Navigation District , and does not require Federal Funding for Dredging. But even the states are getting more strapped for cash for these projects. Time are tough everywhere. The Coast Guard is required to remove markers and buoys when the waters become too shallow for the buoy tenders to maintain them. FIND's Budget for 2011 projects already funded is $59,728,978.00. Chuck

[nautical62]

What is the current controlling depth due to the silting?

An interesting question about pulling the marks. What's the balance between having no aids for those who do use it and trying to discourage people from using it?

I've aways felt it was better than many of the other marked inlets to the south.