A dredging project that will remove excess sand from John’s Pass took its first tentative steps Monday. This includes the removal of approximately 13,000 cubic yards of sand from the north side of
the channel.
It was a long time coming. Sand has been accumulating in John’s Pass, which divides Madeira Beach and Treasure Island, for decades. According to Dylan Hubbard, who operates fishing excursion boats and sightseeing tours from Hubbard’s Marina, on the Madeira side, business owners have been pleading with local and state government to dredge the pass since 1997.
In recent years, boats from Hubbard’s Marina have rescued dozens of swimmers who’ve mistaken the sand and shallow water for a public beach, only to get swept into the churning current underneath the John’s Pass bridge and into the path of moving vessels.
“It’s the number one water rescue location in the entire area,” Hubbard said. “I have a letter from the Madeira Beach Fire Chief, who stated ‘it’s not if, it’s when’ there’s another serious incident, where someone’s life is threatened.”
Every Spring Break, Hubbard added, “there will be hundreds out people out there, and everybody’s swimming in the water. People get swept out to sea all the time.”
The accumulated sand also impedes the recession of flood waters. At Hubbard’s Marina, “There’s an FDOT drain there, and there’s a city drain. So those drainage systems get blocked with sand, and then it floods Gulf Boulevard when the FDOT drain is blocked, and it floods John’s Pass when the city drain is blocked.”
It’s also a danger to marine mammals. Manatees and dolphins moving through the pass, between Boca Ciega Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, can’t swim in the extreme shallows and must move to the center, where they are vulnerable to boat strikes.
Gov. Ron DeSantis approved the $1.5 million in funding for a dredging project in fall 2022, after Pinellas County, the City of Madeira Beach, Hubbard’s Marina, FDOT and the Army Corps of Engineers commissioned a study on the issue.
The study recommended extension of the north-side jetty to prevent more sand from entering the pass. It also advised dredging – and suggested that “in five, 10 years, it’ll be right back where it is today,” according to Hubbard.
He also said the dredging permit was not applied for until June 2024. “At every meeting, I’d ask about it, and the City Manager’s response was always ‘We’re waiting for Army Corps.’”
A notice from the City of Madeira Beach indicated dredging equipment is being “mobilized” today in John’s Pass Park. Physical dreging should begin Wednesday. The project is estimated to take 60 to 90 days to complete.