Call for Public Comment

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District has proposed a project for maintenance dredging of the McGriff Channel at Suwannee River to restore the channel depth and width for safe and efficient navigation along the length of the extant federal navigation project.
 
The proposed dredging will take place at McGriff Pass (Wadley Pass), at the mouth of the Suwannee River in Dixie County, and encompasses a portion of the Suwannee River Federal Navigation Project, which borders Levy and Dixie counties. The district proposes to dredge 50,000 to 60,000 cubic yards of material for placement at Cat Island, restoring beach area lost in recent decades to erosion and sea level rise.
 
The placement will beneficially create some 10 acres of bird habitat and help protect archaeological deposits affected by erosion. The project is tentatively scheduled to be constructed from December 2021 through March 2022 to avoid impacting the Gulf sturgeon migration period. Future periodic maintenance dredging may occur anywhere within the federally authorized channel.
 
A copy of the Draft Environmental Assessment and supporting documents are available for public review at the link below. Go to the link, then click on Dixie County and scroll down to Maintenance Dredging of the McGriff Channel at Suwannee River: www.saj.usace.army.mil/SuwanneeRiverDredgingEA.
 
Interested individuals and parties are invited to review the EA and submit comments for consideration either via email or by U.S. Postal Service. The district strongly requests that comments be submitted via email due to staffing impacts of the coronavirus.
 
Send comments via email to:
SAJ-SUWANNEE-COMMENTS@usace.army.mil
 
Mail comments via U.S. Postal Service to:
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District
701 San Marco Boulevard
Jacksonville, Florida 32207-8175
 
Comments must be received by Dec. 1, 2020, for consideration.