Beach renourishment, in which heavy machinery pumps sand from the water back to shore, is a partial solution to beach erosion. But in a break with decades of assistance, the Army Corps of Engineers is requiring all beachfront residents who live along the Sand Key project to give away some of their property rights. For the work to proceed, every owner will need to sign a document known as a perpetual easement that allows public access on a portion of their land next to the beach.
After decades of pollution suffocated Tampa Bay and killed half its seagrass and much of its marine life, unprecedented political cooperation and hundreds of science-guided projects brought the estuary back to life. Tampa Bay became a symbol for the success of the Clean Water Act of 1972, but seagrasses and fish have begun to die again.
CLEARWATER — Due to uncertainty about future funding from the Army Corps of Engineers, members of Tourist Development Council voted unanimously June 21 to increase the share of bed tax