Reef planned off Navarre

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jviehe

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Reef planned off Navarre | Pensacola News Journal | pnj.com

A long-sought underwater amenity is about to become a reality in the coastal waters just off Navarre Beach Park.
Permits are in hand from both the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to sink the first reef in the Gulf of Mexico in what will become the Navarre Beach Marine Sanctuary, Santa Rosa County engineer Roger Blaylock said.
The project should begin sometime in March.
"This is something people have been working on since the mid '90s," said Mandy Evers, chairwoman of the Navarre Beach Marine Sanctuary Committee, the citizens group that has shepherded the effort. "We're all very, very excited to have it in the water."

Yay, more stuff to dive.
 
Pensacola Beach already has one of these in place, and based on what you say, the long-awaited Navarre project may come to fruition. I wish Destin would get the ball rolling and start one of these, too. It will be interesting to see how these are affected by hurricanes. If properly designed, the structures may survive, but most of the growth may be scoured off.
 
Thats great!
 
Anyone know if they ever started this project? I saw in another article that it would only take a few days to install, like 2-3 for the gulf and 3-5 for the sound, but they needed a window of several days calm seas for the gulf.
 
Found this on PNJ dated March 20th.

Finishing up the underwater snorkeling reefs portion of the Navarre Beach Marine Sanctuary will cost a little more than expected, but County Commissioner Jim Melvin said it's his highest recreational priority.
... Melvin said increasing diesel costs are driving up the price.

The commission approved purchasing the Gulf reefs last month and is set to approve the purchase of the reefs in the sound on Thursday.
However, the final bill be $269,160, which is $48,810 more than budgeted. Melvin will take that much more out of his $700,000 District 4 recreation fund.
 
I can't wait! I sure miss the old Navarre Beach Fishing Pier as I'm sure the Marine life does too!
 

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