Grant Secured for St. Lucie Inlet Dredging

Martin County has announced that they have been awarded grant for the St. Lucie Inlet dredging project from the Florida Inland Navigation District (FIND).

Since 1999, FIND has provided periodic funding on four previous occasions for projects in the St. Lucie Inlet including dredging and north jetty improvements.

The planned maintenance dredging of the St. Lucie Inlet will provide a direct benefit to more than 15,000 registered boaters in Martin County by providing safer navigation and decreasing the potential for shoaling in the navigation channel and nearby waterways.

The St. Lucie Inlet is vital to Martin County both environmentally and economically. The Inlet serves an essential environmental function, flushing water discharged from Lake Okeechobee via the St. Lucie Canal into the Atlantic Ocean.

It is also one of the richest and most diverse estuaries in North America. The inlet is where the exchange of fresh and salt water occurs, providing essential habitat for estuarine and marine fisheries.

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Press Release, October 2, 2014