Posted on July 22, 2026
BY
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The City of St. Petersburg’s request for action from the Army Corps of Engineers on resiliency, ecosystem restoration and canal dredging was unanimously approved by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee last week, according to Mayor Kenneth Welch.
“The request for action approval means the City will have additional resources to identify which canals should be dredged and increase overall flood mitigation for our residents,” he stated. “This is not only a win for Riviera Bay, but for our entire community. I thank our residents for holding us accountable.”
The city was one of only three municipalities in the state of Florida to receive a similar authorization in the bill and the only city to have it explicitly authorized, according to the mayor’s office of governmental affairs. The approval is the necessary first of two steps that must occur for the Army Corps to implement the project. The final step is for Congress to pass into law the Water Resources Development Act of 2026, which traditionally get bipartisan support and is expected to happen later this year.
“I am advocating for a solution… that would direct the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to identify and prioritize local canals for dredging,” said U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa. “This assessment would help reduce flood risks, strengthen coastal resilience and restore local ecosystems.”
Riviera Bay Civic Association President Vanessa Pugliese said residents have been asking for their sediment-filled canals to be dredged for years, and the problem was made much worse after the 2024 hurricanes.
“Every one of those storms brings more sand,” she said. “It creates blockages… it reduces the draining from the streets.”
Pugliese said over the past decade certain portions of Riviera Bay began experiencing regular street flooding and called the unanimous approval by the federal committee a significant step forward.
“We are super excited,” she said. “Our residents have been pushing for this to get studied.”
Last December, the city announced it would study canals 11 and 12 in Riviera Bay for a dredging project. Public Works Administrator Claude Tankersley said he’s hopeful the Army Corps will help with that study and include the rest of the roughly 30 miles of canals scattered throughout the city.
“So what we are looking to do is to work with the Army Corps of Engineers to study those canals,” he said. “To see which canals could benefit from any dredging.”
Tankersley estimated the study would take between 3-to-5 years to complete, which would give the city guidance on which canals to dredge.
“We get the study back from the Army Corps saying that this canal is good to dredge, you need to do it,” he said. “This canal, dredging is not going to do any good. Don’t worry about it.”
Tankersley pointed out that the canals were built for drainage and were not meant for navigation.
“They were built 50 or 60 years ago to drain parts of the city that were permanently wet,” he said. “They are not meant for navigation. And so therefore normally they’re not dredged to allow navigation for boats.”
Pugliese said she’s hopeful once the study is complete, Congress would authorize funds to help pay for the dredge project.
“With the Army Corps hopefully coming in, that once we go through this because we’re included in the Federal Resources Act, then we can go back to Congress for appropriations to help pay for this,” she said. “So it’s not 100 percent needing to be funded by the City of St. Petersburg.”
The frequency of tidal flooding events has noticeably increased in St. Petersburg over the past few decades, according to the city. In 2005, there were only three days where tides exceeded two feet above sea level. In 2024, that number jumped to 21 days. It’s expected to increase to 70 days by 2033, based on studies by the Florida Flood Hub.
