Auxiliary Supports Coast Guard as They Testify on Shoaling of St. Lucie Inlet, FL

Yesterday the Coast Guard testified at a meeting of the Martin County, FL County Commission about the shoaling problems in the St. Lucie Inlet. This inlet is the mouth of the St. Lucie River near Stuart in east central Florida. It is the eastern entrance of the Okeechobee Waterway in addition to being the primary ocean access for a large number of boaters, both recreational and commercial, and a significant amount of the boating industry in and around Stuart, FL.

As a man-made inlet, the St. Lucie requires maintenance re-dredging every 4 years or so. The Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for making it happen, with funding on an 80-20 federal/local split. Sadly, the Corps has fallen down on their end of the deal. The dredging is now due, as the last was done in 2007, but the Corps has no funding for it.

Yesterday's meeting was to receive a status report from the County's engineer, the Coast Guard Aids to Navigation Team (ANT), and the Corps of Engineers. The County engineer provided the bottom survey; the ANT talked about how they are constantly re-setting the buoys to match the moving sand; and the Corps talked about how they know the work is vitally important, but that they have no money.

The Auxiliary was there as well - to support our ANT, Sector, and District, each of which supplied their ATON manager. We supplied advance information about and coordination with the County. Also, Auxiliary Aviation provided the platform from which the active duty public affairs specialist took the pictures our ATON managers needed in order to see the current state of the shoaling.

Although no final solution was adopted, this session was a great example of partnerships working at their best - between the Coast Guard, its Auxiliary, and a local community.