NRCS Provides $1.8 Million for Canal Loop EWP Project

Florida NRCS State Agricultural Engineer Jesse Wilson (NRCS image -- click to enlarge)

Partnerships was the theme at a recent press conference held in coral Gables, Florida, as NRCS and Miami-Dade County officials marked the beginning of a bank stabilization project on the Loop Canal in south Miami.  NRCS has provided $1.8 million to Miami-Dade County to restore this canal from the Emergency Watershed Protection Program (EWP).

Florida NRCS State Agricultural Engineer Jesse Wilson represented State Conservationist Carlos Suarez at the press conference, “Several residents are losing their back yards, swimming pools, and part of their homes to this drainage canal.  This project will stabilize the banks behind these homes,” said Wilson.  “The NRCS role in this project is to provide financial and technical assistance to complete this project.”

The South Florida Water Management District was instrumental in getting the partners together to go forward with the project. Governing Board member Erick Buermann attended the event.  “This is really one of the last vestiges of Hurricane Wilma.  The South Florida Water Management District and its members were unanimously behind this project.  If these canals do not flow properly we have a flooding issue and it becomes a health and safety issue as well,” said Buermann.

Miami-Dade County Commissioner Rebecca Sosa was in attendance and thanked NRCS, the South Florida Water Management District and the Miami-Dade Public Works Department.  She said that residents came to her office crying, telling her that their back yards were falling into the canal. Today this is a reality.  When you see governments joining forces for the benefit of the people who came to my office in tears,” said Sosa.

The work will begin next week when barges enter the canal and begin the restoration, just as another hurricane season begins.  “When we complete this project not only will these residents be shielded from future flood events, but it will stabilize the banks behind their homes,” says Wilson.
Your contact is NRCS public affairs specialist Gail Hendricks at 352-338-9560.