TARPON SPRINGS — Seven years, two vetoes and two decades of sediment buildup later, workers finally began dredging the Anclote River, bringing relief to Tarpon Springs, a city whose economy relies on the navigation of its waterways.
Many large ships haven’t been able to navigate the river, opting to bypass Tarpon Springs for Tampa. That means the city has been missing out on business and the visual impact of having a lively marina, said Mayor Costa Vatikiotis.
“It’s like coming to a wild west town and it’s more of a ghost town,” he said.
Tarpon Springs, a city of about 25,000 people, brings in $252 million a year in marine commerce, and the river supports roughly 150 businesses and 2,500 jobs, 21% of the city’s workforce, according to a 2016 economic impact survey.
But the shallow water of the river — measuring less than 4 feet deep during low tide — means shrimp boats and commercial ships with larger drafts risk running aground in the turning basin. The dredging will return the river to its normal depth of 11 feet.
The channel, which is under federal jurisdiction, was last dredged in 1998. The river is supposed to be dredged every 10 years, but securing funding has been an uphill battle.
City officials, with the help of some state and federal legislators, including U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis and former state Rep. Chris Sprowls, worked for seven years to secure federal funding and begin the project.
In March 2019, Tarpon Springs officials were told that federal money for the project had been diverted to hurricane relief efforts in the Panhandle. The COVID pandemic also slowed down the project, according to Judy Staley, a spokesperson for the city.
Meanwhile, former Gov. Rick Scott in 2017 vetoed Tarpon Springs’ request for $920,000 in state funding toward dredging the river. And Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed a 2020 request for over $800,000 in state money. But the city has managed to move forward with extra money from the city and county.
In total, the project costs $8.3 million, with $5.7 million coming from federal funding, $1.4 million from the state, $300,000 from Pinellas County and almost $900,000 from Tarpon Springs.
The dredging, led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, began in March and is expected to take nine months.
Vatikiotis said he understands that larger seaports like those in Jacksonville, Tampa and Port Everglades are higher on the Army Corps’ priority list.
Still, he said, “Would anybody that started on this in 2016 believe we’d be sitting here talking about it not being done in 2023? No.”
