Tigertail Berm Repairs Scheduled for Mid-November

The Hideaway Beach Taxing District met on October 17th, 2024, and discussed the scheduled maintenance and repair of the Tigertail Berm project.

In the timeframe between Tropical Storm Debby and Hurricanes Helene and Milton, conditions have changed on the Big Marco Pass/Tigertail Lagoon berms. The last emergency berm repair done was due to damages by TS Idalia (August 29, 2023) and was completed on September 18, 2023.

In a period of six weeks, three tropical storm events have eroded the constructed berms and created overwash areas allowing significant wave action from the Gulf into Tigertail Lagoon. According to Mohamed Dabees, Senior Engineer from Humiston & Moore, “We have quite an eventful season and tropical season is not over yet. We prepared the agenda to go over Tropical Storm Debby only to have two major storms to hit our region, Helene and Milton. The initial intent was to go over the changes from Tropical Storm Debby, which created a surge in our area between three to four feet, plus the waves were in the same order of magnitude for a number of days.”

“TS Debby created breaches in the Southern part of the berm,” Dabees added. “The second storm, a month later, Helene recorded a measured storm surge in Naples of roughly over five feet with surge ranging four to six feet in Collier expanded existing breaches in Tigertail Lagoon. Hurricane Milton has created additional breaches with sand deposited into the lagoon and mangrove areas.”

There was discussion on the effect of the wider breach allowing more flow through into the lagoon, and Dabees reminded the board members that “there is a lot of wave energy and water into the Tigertail Lagoon which will adversely affect the homes in that South section of Hideaway Beach. The berm provides 80% sheltering for Hideaway and 20% for the County section of Tigertail Beach Lagoon. Without the berm, all those waves breaking on the sandbar would otherwise break on Hideaway’s shoreline. Sand Dollar Island serves as a disposable line of defense, and the berm is taking the wave energy from coming into Hideaway Beach and sheltering the upland properties on Hideaway.”

Planned Operational Maintenance: Dabees stated, “As coordinated with Collier County, permits are in place to move sand from overwash areas to the constructed berm at an estimated budget of $350,000 allocated for regular maintenance every two years using TDC funds.

Storm Related Repairs: According to Dabees, “The three storms will be managed by Hideaway Beach Taxing District along with the possibility to qualify for reimbursement from State or Federal Funds. According to Dabees, the extent of the areas that needed to be repaired has increased with the cumulative effects of Helene and Milton along with the cost of repairs.”

Start Date of Repair: November 15th – as soon as the additional Cost/Purchase Order from Earthtech is approved by Marco’s City Council on its November 4th meeting for the damages created by the three storms.

Outfall Discharge into Tigertail Lagoon: During the meeting, board members discussed the stormwater outfall discharging from the Hideaway Golf course and upland areas of the community. The discharge has created channels on the beach leading into Big Marco Pass/Tigertail Lagoon, and the need to add more sand to level that area of the beach.

During the meeting, authorization was approved for Turrell Hall Environmental monitoring services, which included water quality monitoring services. The water quality samples of Tigertail Lagoon taken by Turrell Hall & Associates in 2023 for the post-dredge period showed high levels of the pollutants Total Phosphorus (TP) and Total Nitrogen (TN). 

According to the EPA, “Nutrient water pollution is one of the most widespread and challenging environmental problems faced by our nation. When too many nutrients, mainly nitrogen and phosphorus, enter our waterbodies they cause excessive algal growth. Excess algae can reduce or deplete dissolved oxygen available to aquatic life and, in many instances, produce toxins that can harm people, animals, and aquatic life.”