Weeki Wachee River Channel restoration project

The Weeki Wachee River, located approximately 40 miles north of Tampa in Florida’s Springs Coast, is home to mullet, manatees, and mermaids.

Over the past hundred years, the river has experienced significant ecological shifts, caused by both natural and human activities, including sedimentation.

Despite most sources of erosion being addressed in the past, this accumulated sediment continues to move in the river along with widening sand bars and increasingly shallow areas in the lower river.

VHB is helping the Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) remove the accumulated sediments to re-establish historic river depths.

The Weeki Wachee Channel Restoration Project is funded by the State of Florida and the District and will restore approximately 1.5 miles of the lower river impacted by sedimentation.

The work utilizes hand-dredging, which vacuums the sediments from the riverbed to the dredge material treatment area where sediments are removed before returning clean water to the river.