The Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved accepting a $320,000 grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to move forward with the design and permitting phase of an expanded East Pass dredging project.

• Natural Resources Chief Alex Fogg presented the agreement at Tuesday’s commission meeting, explaining the project builds on a 2020 feasibility study completed with Taylor Engineering. 

The study examined expanding the federal channel dredging operation from the current 200,000 cubic yards of sand removed every five years to between 600,000 cubic yards and over one million cubic yards.

“That feasibility study was completed, reviewed favorably, and about a year ago, we applied for grant funds to move us into the design and permitting portion of the project,” Fogg said. “We were awarded those funds about a month ago.”

The sand removed during dredging operations is placed on adjacent beaches to help combat erosion. Under the expanded plan, sand could be placed to the east or west of Destin’s East Pass.

The grant requires a 1:1 match of $320,000 from the county, which was previously approved by the board during the application process in July 2024. The project’s construction phase would not begin until 2027 or 2028.

• According to the agenda item, the supplemental dredging will provide increased volumes of beach-quality material to balance erosion on adjacent beaches and extend the life of beach restoration projects. The expanded operation will also extend the maintenance dredging interval, reducing potential impacts to the local economy and costs for both local and federal governments.

The project aims to reduce potential shoaling in the navigation channel and associated hazardous navigation conditions, which would benefit the local economy as well as missions conducted by Eglin Air Force Base and the U.S. Coast Guard.

Fogg indicated that at the next board meeting, Commissioners will review a grant application for construction phase funding for the project.

The grant will fund refined numerical modeling analyses, engineering design, and regulatory permitting through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Chairman Paul Mixon praised Fogg and the Natural Resources Team during the meeting, saying the county is “setting the stage for the other 66 counties in the state of how we can be good stewards of our water and of our land.”