THE DEPTHS IN DOCTORS PASS AND SURROUNDING CHANNELS ARE
CONSTANTLY DECREASING AND CHANGING AS SAND IS BROUGHT IN ON THE
FLOODTIDE AND SETTLES ON THE BOTTOM. TO DEEPEN THE CHANNELS, SAVE
THE BAYS PARTICIPATED WITH THE CITY OF
NAPLES IN DEVELOPING AN INLET
MANAGEMENT PLAN. UNDER THE PLAN, A
LARGE IMPOUNDMENT BASIN WITH A CAPACITY OF AT LEAST 40,000 CUBIC
YARDS WAS DUG JUST OFF THE MOUTH OF DOCTORS PASS. IN ADDITION, THE
NORTH JETTY WAS EXTENDED TO REDUCE SAND FLOW FROM THE BEACHES INTO
THE PASS. APPROXIMATELY 10,000 CUBIC YARDS OF SAND MUST BE BYPASSED
ANNUALLY. UNDER THIS SYSTEM, THE IMPOUNDMENT BASIN AND ADJACENT
CHANNELS MUST BE DREDGED APPROXIMATELY EVERY FOUR YEARS. THE
COST FOR DREDGING WAS INITIALLY PAID FOR BY THE MOORING BAY TAXING
DISTRICT BUT, MORE> RECENTLY, THE COLLIER COUNTY TOURIST DEVELOPMENT TAX
HAS PAID FOR IT. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO READ A COPY OF THE INLET MANAGEMENT PLAN, CLICK HERE (Requires Adobe Acrobat in your computer)THE MAIN PASS AND ADJACENT CHANNELS ON THE INSIDE OF THE PASS WERE DREDGED IN 2001. THE HYDRAULIC SCREW DREDGE AT WORK IS SHOWN ON THE FIRST PAGE. THE DEPTH OF THE IMPOUNDMENT BASIN WAS LIMITED BY A ROCKY BOTTOM, WHICH COULD NOT BE REMOVED BY THE SCREW DREDGE. IN 2002, A CRANE TYPE DREDGE WITH CLAMSHELL BUCKET WAS ABLE TO REMOVE THE ROCK AND OBTAIN THE DESIRED DEPTH OF 13 FEET BELOW MLLW. IN ADDITION, THIS DREDGE 
REMOVED SOME OF THE SAND JUST INSIDE THE JETTIES
THAT WAS BROUGHT IN BY RECENT HURRICANES. THE PASS AND ADJACENT CHANNELS WERE DREDGED AGAIN IN
20005. SAVE THE BAYS HAS A TEAM HEADED BY DR. BILL LAZEAR THAT MONITORS WATER DEPTHS IN THE PASS WITH
LOCATION ESTABLISHED BY SATELLITE USING THE GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM (GPS). THESE READINGS
ARE CONVERTED INTO CHARTS WITH DEPTH CONTOURS USING AN INNOVATIVE COMPUTER PROGRAM DEVELOPED BY
BILL. A SAMPLE OF THESE CHARTS MAY BE SEEN BY LEFT CLICKING HERE CHART. |
