The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced they will give $13.5 million to revitalize the shorelines of Lido Beach.
Sarasota City Manager Tom Barwin declared a state of emergency for Lido Beach on May 30 after Subtropical Storm Alberto washed away seven to eight feet of beach and dunes. The erosion along the popular tourist destination has hurt businesses and damaged property.
Calling the beach conditions "dire," Barwin said the money will help kick start a project to put nearly a million cubic yards of new sand on Lido Beach.
"With federal funding in place, we’ll be able to proceed with the long-term shoreline protection project in the near future," he said. "Monitoring will be a significant aspect as well as having a thoughtful approach to maintain all of Sarasota County’s shorelines over the coming decades."
Sand for the beach renourishment project will be taken from Big Pass. The long-term project, which is expected to cost around $20 million, will also transfer an additional 500,000 cubic yards of sand from Big Pass to Lido Beach every five years.
Sen. Bill Nelson praised the Corps funding for Sarasota and other Florida projects in a statement on Monday.
“This year’s plan will fund several important projects in Florida, including beach renourishment projects in Sarasota and Brevard, harbor deepening projects in Jacksonville and funding to continue restoring the Everglades and repairing Herbert Hoover Dike," Nelson said. "While this year’s plan is certainly good news for Florida, it’s important that we continue to push the Corps to use the additional disaster funds Congress recently approved to fully fund the remaining work needed on Herbert Hoover Dike and get the project done ahead of schedule.”
Sarasota is also planning to take 150-200,000 cubic yards of sand from New Pass this fall to provide short-term renourishment of Lido Beach.
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