Port Everglades Jetty, Sand Bypass Paused

The cranes, boulder piles, and construction-site look to the inlet channel at Port Everglades are part of a sand bypass and jetty upgrade work that is currently paused.

The Miami Waterkeeper organization reports on its website that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers "has agreed to halt authorization of all dredging activity for Broward County’s Port Everglades Inlet Sand Bypass Project."

Miami Waterkeeper said the stoppage followed the filing of a lawsuit by it and other conservation groups challenging the permitting process used by the federal agencies involved. The legal battle ensued following concerns over the project’s potential impact on local staghorn coral and queen conch populations.

In a statement on its website, Broward County said it was "pleased" to have begun the "Sand Bypass Project" following what it called "decades of planning, design, and permitting" for the port project.

"The Sand Bypass project will be completed through four phases of work: dredging, north jetty improvements, artificial reef mitigation, and rubble clearing. Dredging work has been awarded to Great Lakes Dredge and Dock," the county said on the website. "Completion of the Project in total is estimated by the end of 2029."

The goal of the project is to remove sand from a 10.8-acre offshore deposit located just east of the segment of beach serving the Point of Americas condominiums and other residential enclaves on the north side of the port inlet. In combination with dredging, the north side of the jetty at the port is also being fortified with 12-ton boulders sourced from Georgia.

The county website notes that it is taking precautions to avoid harming marine life: "The dredging contractor employs on-board marine animal observers who watch for sea turtles, manatees, and other protected marine life," the statement reads. "If a sea turtle or manatee is observed at too close of a distance to working equipment, dredging stops until the animal moves away on its own."

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit—Miami Waterkeeper, the Center for Biological Diversity, Florida Wildlife Federation, and the Diving Equipment & Marketing Association—said in an Aug. 6 statement that the "Sand Bypass Project is harming federally listed corals, conch and other marine species who are also at risk from the proposed Port Everglades Expansion Project."

The groups also pointed to heightened environmental risks following the 2023 marine heatwave, which inflicted widespread staghorn and elkhorn coral mortality, putting the species at higher risk of extinction.

"Staghorn coral is on the brink of extinction in Florida, and this project puts some of the last known surviving colonies at risk," said Danika Desai, senior attorney with Earthjustice, in a press release. "We are suing to ensure the responsible agencies protect these surviving staghorn — which are critical to the species’ recovery — to the full extent the law requires."