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Collier County staff, residents debate Clam Pass dredging, seek advisory panel and permit renewal
Summary
County and Pelican Bay officials described Clam Pass monitoring and permitting history and recommended waiting until after sea‑turtle season to dredge; residents urged annual dredging, independent modeling and broader stakeholder representation. The commission asked staff to return with options including an advisory committee and permit renewals.
Neil Dorril, a Pelican Bay Services Division representative, told the Collier County Board of County Commissioners at its March 4 workshop that the county's management plan and permits guide dredging at Clam Pass and that renewal of federal and state permits is underway.
Dorril said the most recent bathymetric surveys, completed in January–February, show about 10,000 cubic yards of sand in the inlet — down from a historical high of about 20,000 cubic yards when Clam Pass closed in February 2012 — and that the county’s engineers recommend waiting until the fall, after sea‑turtle nesting season, to conduct a maintenance dredge rather than rushing work now.
The discussion matters because Clam Pass is designated the county’s first Natural Resource Protection Area (NRPA) and its management plan, adopted by the Board of County Commissioners in February 2015, ties dredging permits to specific design and fill templates. Dorril said those permits historically have allowed both mechanical and occasional hydraulic dredging; the system has been dredged mechanically about seven times and…
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