Sand Key Beach Nourishment
Project Overview
The Sand Key project along Indian Rocks Beach, Indian Shores and Redington Shores was last fully nourished in 2012. In 2018, a partial nourishment was completed but with gaps.
The last two storm seasons caused significant damages to our beaches and the surrounding communities. While we continue to work with the Army Corps, the County has designed and approved a County-led project that will include Sand Key, Treasure Island and Upham Beach. The project will begin later this year (2025).
The County-led project easement is different from the Army Corps project. This easement doesn’t include public access and use; it is just for the construction and maintenance of the beach nourishment and dune. If you are not interested in having a dune restored or constructed in conjunction with the nourishment, please contact us immediately.
Background
The barrier island called Sand Key extends from Clearwater Pass to John’s Pass. By the 1960s, much of the beach was very thin or had eroded back to the seawalls. To address the erosion, Congress authorized the Federal Shore Protection Project in 1966 along the entire developed Gulf coast of Pinellas County that included Sand Key, Treasure Island and Long Key.
The initial construction effort for Sand Key was completed in 1993. Successive nourishments in 1999, 2006, 2012 and 2018 repaired and built up the beach significantly, until the hurricane seasons of 2023 and 2024. These cyclic nourishments create a buffer zone that erodes gradually between nourishments and is replaced every six years. Without a continuous cycle of nourishment that replaces the sand in this buffer zone, the shoreline continues eroding toward the seawall.
Project Area
The designed County-led Sand Key project area extends from Clearwater to Redington Beach, excluding Belleair Shore.
As a result of not securing easements from upland property owners, the project will leave gaps where sand will not be placed or will be placed only seaward of the Erosion Control Line (ECL), particularly on Sand Key, where property owners could not be located or chose not to sign construction easements.
Properties without easements will see a higher beach from the Erosion Control Line west into the gulf. In many instances, this will leave a lower elevation in the area for which easements were not provided.
Each easement extends from the erosion control line landward to the seawall or to the Coastal Construction Control Line if no seawall is present. The easement acquisition progress can be viewed and tracked on the Beach Nourishment Easement Acquisition map.
Easements are still being accepted, and additional properties may still be added to the project, depending on the stage of surveying. Interested parties can contact the County through signforsand@pinellas.gov.
Community Outreach
Upcoming public meetings will be held at the following locations:
July 9: 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Treasure Island City Hall 10451 Gulf Blvd.
July 16: 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Virtual- register via Zoom to attend.
Aug. 6, 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Belleair Beach, 444 Causeway Blvd.
Feb. 13, 2025: Pinellas County hosted a webinar on Zoom to discuss the project, the need for easements and answer questions from the community.
Contact Us
Email: SignForSand@pinellas.gov
Call: (727) 464-7799
More Information
Watch: Associated Press news video on sand washovers from hurricanes in southwest Florida