What is the Mid Reach?

The congressionally authorized Brevard County Shore Protection Project excludes the 7.6 miles immediately south of Patrick Air Force Base and extending to Flug Avenue in Indialantic. (View Mid Reach Satellite Image) The reason for exclusion of this area is the presence of rocky outcrops along the shoreline. These rocky outcrops are composed of compressed coquina shell sediments.

The term "worm rock" has been used loosely, and sometimes inappropriately, to describe the coquina rock outcrops. While these areas do provide habitat for a tube-forming polychaete worm, these rocks also offer shelter, food, and breeding areas for a variety of species, including fish, marine turtles, and attached plants and animals.
Those habitat values are recognized by the National Marine Fisheries Service, which designates such rocks as “Essential Fish Habitat.” Over geologic time, the coquina rock outcrops have withstood variations in sea level that have caused them to be alternately buried and exposed.

Where are we now?

The County has been working with state and federal agencies to develop a new proposal and permit application for shore protection along the rocky area.  Federal and state agencies tasked with environmental permitting review for beach projects require that planned damage to environmental resources be both minimized and mitigated. The relevant review agencies include the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Brevard County’s initial data acquisition in the Mid Reach is complete. Data acquisition included aerial photography, surveys, and mapping of the area’s nearshore rock resources. Roughly sixty acres of rock outcrops were identified, with equal portions featuring potentially higher and lower value habitat.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has begun a General Re-evaluation Report (GRR) for the Mid Reach. The GRR will compare the economic benefits of beach restoration, dune restoration and coastal armoring along the Mid Reach shoreline. The GRR will include a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement that will evaluate the impacts of shore protection alternatives on the rock outcrops in the Mid Reach surf zone, and potential measures that can be taken to minimize and mitigate such impacts.

If the GRR finds in favor of shore protection, then the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will proceed with developing plans and specifications for project construction, and the County will pursue construction funds on local, state, and federal levels. Passage of the 5th one-cent addition to the Local Option Tourist Tax and subsequent re-allocation of exiting collections should provide a dependable source of local match for Mid Reach construction, mitigation, and monitoring.

What’s Next?

Brevard County is currently seeking general legislation from Congress that would authorize the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to proceed with restoration of any, to all, of the 7.6 mile Mid Reach. Congressman Weldon is supporting the following pieces of legislation:

1. A $500,000 federal appropriation in the Energy and Water Appropriations Bill, sought by Brevard County, to complete the Mid Reach GRR.
2. Legislation in the Water Resources Development Act to correct prior Army Corps documents that limited the Mid Reach to 7.1 miles, instead of the full 7.6 miles.
3. HR 2557 (from the 2004 draft Water Resources Development Act) that directs that the Secretary of the Army accept the results of the Independent Coastal Expert Study that found the federal government should assume fiscal responsibility for nourishing the North Reach for 50 years.  The study found that the federal government should assume all the costs associated with building and maintaining the North Reach to mitigate the historical erosive impacts of the federal navigation project at Port Canaveral on the North Reach beaches.  If this legislation passes, Brevard County Tourist Development Council funds earmarked for the North Reach would become available for Mid Reach restoration.  

If the three pieces of legislation pass, no more authorization from Congress should be needed for beach restoration in the Mid Reach; however construction would still be contingent on permitting and federal appropriations.

What can I do?

You can write your legislator to support these three pieces of legislation.  If you have a home in another state, you may also want to write the legislators from that state if they are on any of the committees that vote on these bills.

To determine your Congressman, go to http://capwiz.com/mandcmp/home/ and enter your zip code.

The County is working diligently to develop a plan that will protect property owners while meeting state and federal requirements to maintain the habitat values of the natural rock outcrop communities.

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