Posted on December 17, 2024
JENSEN BEACH, Fla. — Residents of Martin County are voicing their opposition to the proposed dredging in the River Watch Channel of the Indian River Lagoon.
More than 70 people lined the sidewalk of the Jensen Beach Causeway to draw attention to a dredging project they feel will disrupt an area of the lagoon that’s been protected for years.
“I have been against dredging and the use of gasoline engines since I moved there,” resident Patty Barlow said.
Patty Barlow shares why she is opposed to the dredging project.
Barlow lives in the River Watch community, which connects to the River Watch Channel where the dredging has been proposed.
“I fear if this happens we’re going to lose a very important resource to Florida,” she said.
She joined the Conservation Alliance of St. Lucie County and dozens of other people at a rally Sunday to speak out against the proposed project.
“The best thing to do is to save those last remaining wild places in the state of Florida because so many of them have been altered or damaged or destroyed,” Shari Anker, president of the Conservation Alliance of St. Lucie County, said.
Shari Anker outlines the importance of saving the remaining wild spaces in Florida.
Anker worries about the impacts that dredging the channel would have on marine life.
“Wild mangrove wetlands, you also have manatees that have come and found that they really like the sanctuary,” she said. “We have seagrass there.”
WPTV learned that Merseas Company filed an application with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to do the work for the River Watch POA.
Merseas Company applied with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to work on the project.
Currently, there is a measure in place to protect the channel from dredging and gasoline-powered engines. It was established in 1991 to remedy an illegal dredging operation from the 1980s. To do the work, the FDEP would have to overturn that legal regulation.
“I believe that this is a bad idea. I believe that it sets a really bad precedent,” Jim Moir, Indian Riverkeeper and secretary of the Rivers Coalition, said. “I believe that these are environmental impacts that are unjustified.”
Jim Moir is among those voicing his opposition to the dredging plan.
As cars drove by the demonstrators Sunday, drivers hoked their horns in support of their cause.
Now, the group is hoping the FDEP will show its support too.
“I’m hoping the FDEP does the right thing and does not grant this exception to their easement,” Moir said.
