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Jupiter Narrows restoration to begin in August after private funding and permits secured
Summary
The Jupiter Narrows Conservation Alliance told Tequesta’s Environmental Advisory Committee it has permits from DEP and the Army Corps and expects contractors to mobilize in August for a privately funded mangrove and seagrass restoration, with limestone breakwaters and a student-led monitoring plan.
Sue Panella, who introduced herself as a founding partner of the Jupiter Narrows Conservation Alliance, told the Village of Tequesta Environmental Advisory Committee on June 10 that the Alliance has secured required permits and private funding to begin restoring mangroves and seagrass in the Jupiter Narrows this summer.
Panella said the Alliance has both Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Army Corps permits “in hand” and expects contractors to mobilize north of Cato’s Bridge in early August. The plan calls for three natural limestone breakwaters between the navigational channel and the remaining islands to stabilize sediment and mangrove roots so plantings can take hold. Panella said the restoration work should take no more than 60 days once installation begins.
The project brings together a string of partnerships, Panella said. She described coordination with a Bureau of Land Management restoration effort on the adjacent shoreline, engineering support from Taylor Engineering (the firm working for the BLM in the area), scientific partnerships with the Ocean Conservancy and University of Miami, and a student monitoring program with Jupiter High School’s Environmental Research and Field Studies Academy.
"We have both permits that we need from the DEP and the Army Corps," Panella said. "The restoration's gonna start in August." She added that the Ocean Conservancy brings “advocacy, science, credibility” and that Taylor Engineering is already familiar with the immediate ecosystem.
Panella told the committee the Alliance expects the effort to cost about $1,200,000 and had raised more than $1,000,000 in private donations, and that the work will be privately funded rather than paid for by the village. She described long-term monitoring plans and outreach, including informational buoys, signage and social media content to keep residents informed and recruit volunteers for planting days.
Committee members pressed Panella on staging, timing and volunteer roles. Panella said contractors will decide the east/west workload split with the BLM team and that planting may wait until after hurricane season if experts recommend it. She also said the Alliance has a board member with a PhD in seagrass work training high-school students to conduct seagrass monitoring over multiple years.
The presentation concluded with members expressing support and appreciation for the coordination. The Alliance also reported a separate, legislative step: paperwork to name nearby islands in honor of a donor foundation was approved at the state level, though the transcript uses inconsistent names for that designation.
