Posted on February 20, 2018
By A.G. Gancarsk, Florida Politics
A Jacksonville creek restoration project awaited by Avondale area residents for over a decade is finally on the verge of a City Council green light.
In committees Tuesday and Wednesday: a bill (2018-8) to move forward on the restoration of Big Fishweir Creek.
Urbanization and development over a course of decades made the tributary inhospitable to swimming and fishing, per the US Army Corps of Engineers.
“This tributary is tidally influenced,” Amanda Parker, United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Public Affairs Specialist, told the Resident News in 2017.
“The contributing sub-basin to Big Fishweir Creek has been urbanized predominantly with residential land use, much of it occurring prior to promulgation of storm water regulations. Therefore, limited storm water management has been implemented in the sub-basin, resulting in sediment deposition in the creek. Urbanization included encroachment along the banks of the creek. Over time, sediments transported by storm events have covered the natural creek bottom. The sediment deposition and encroachment from urbanization have reduced the natural habitat in the creek and along the creek banks.”
The USACE outlines a number of benefits to the project. Included among them, making the creek “swimmable and fishable,” creating a navigable habitat for the still endangered manatee, improving water quality generally, and creation of a marsh island.
The project is estimated to cost $6,549,000; the city of Jacksonville has appropriated $2,566,375, with the USACE picking up the other 65 percent of the tab. If the federal contribution goes up, the local share will do likewise. The federal cap is $10 million.
Construction is expected in 2019.
Source: Florida Politics
