Seagrass Chokes Off MacDill Plan To Fight Beach Erosion

Posted Sep 5, 2011 by Howard Altman

Updated Sep 5, 2011 at 07:33 PM

A proposal by the U.S. Air Force to reduce beach erosion at MacDill Air Force Base and increase the local fish population at the same time has been scuttled for now.

By seagrass.

The Air Force wants to build about 40,000 square feet of underwater structures to reduce the amount of waves in Tampa Bay from ships and wind. The structures would reduce the amount of erosion at the MacDill Beaches and increase the fish population, according to information presented to the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council.

While all that may sound good, the council last month recommended the plan be temporarily deep-sixed, because, it says, the new wave patterns created by the underwater structures could adversely affect the seagrass

The project is expected to impact seagrass beds, an important and regionally-significant resource in Tampa Bay, according to the council.

“The acreage of seagrass to be directly impacted has not been calculated,” its report states. “Additional seagrass, located adjacent to the structures, could also be impacted by changes in wave action.”

The plan, says the council, does not meet requirements of its adopted growth policy, Future of the Region, A Strategic Regional Policy Plan for the Tampa Bay Region.

“Based on the facts that the project would impact Regionally-Significant Natural Resources and mitigation has not been proposed, the proposal is not consistent with the above-referenced Council policies,” according to the council. “In order to install the project in a manner consistent with adopted Council policies, it is recommended that the seagrasses directly impacted by the project be minimized and mitigated.”

Stay tuned to hear what the Air Force says about all this.