Clearwater Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Survey

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Jacksonville District dredges authorized depths to maintain access within Clearwater Pass and associated channels of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway near Tampa, FL. To ensure environmental compliance with Clean Water Act Section 401 provisions, and to provide a baseline that would be useful in determining any post-construction impacts, JMT’s marine resource assessment team performed a field survey to locate, map, and describe sensitive marine habitats.

Prior to executing a field survey, JMT conducted an extensive search for all known marine habitat map data for the dredge area. The field survey comprised dive, snorkel, vessel, and wading transects to determine the channel-ward limits of sensitive marine habitats, including submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV), which were carefully mapped. JMT also determined species characteristics (overall health, epiphyte load, canopy height) and abundance parameters for all SAV beds within 150 meters of proposed dredge areas.

JMT’s dive manual was approved by USACE Jacksonville.