CANAL MAINTENANCE and USABILITY
A Concern for All Waterfront Residents

The Problem: There is no ongoing maintenance program to ensure the usability and value of our canals is preserved and enhanced.  This has resulted in a deterioration of many of our waterfront areas due to sedimentation as depicted below.

Davis Islands canal heavily impacted by sediment.	This canal was originally dredged to 6ft. at low tide.	Canal once opened into Seaplane Basin.
More muck.	Boats are left high and dry.	Muck and debris.

The solutions to the problem range from those who believe each waterfront resident is responsible for their own canal, to those who insist it is solely the responsibility of city or state governments.

As with most realistic solutions the answer is a combination of ideas and compromises.  After years of working towards realistic solutions, a proposal has been organized by the City of Tampa to address our most severely impacted areas.

The Davis Island Waterfront Property Association and the Davis Islands Civic Association have been working with city officials to understand the impact of the proposal. 

         Click here to view the proposal.

The proposal is at its earliest stages of development and many details are subject to change.  Our main challenge as waterfront residents at this stage is to voice our support for the city to move forward from the "Study Phase" to the "Planning Phase".  Without a clear direction from residents, this proposal will not move forward.

Earlier this year, our organization sent out a mailing detailing the proposal and requesting a response. 

         Click here to view mailing.

The responses received were overwhelmingly in favor of pursuing a solution but divided in the specifics of how.  The choices have been reduced to two options:

Option 1: Take the 1.3 million in federal grants intended for dredging and required matching funds and address the most severely impacted canals as outlined in the proposal. As more grants and funds become available, these would be applied to the next group of canals and areas that are most severely impacted.

Option 2: Take the 1.3 million in federal grants intended for dredging and required matching funds and combine it with increased property tax assessments for canal property owners effectively expanding the scope of the project to include more canals and homes.

The position of the Davis Islands Waterfront Property Association is to support a solution based on the following criteria:

• Addresses the islands most severely impacted areas.
• Has the greatest probability of being executed.

With these simple criteria in mind, DIWPA is most supportive of using available monies to address the most severe issues on the island (Option 1).  This is not the opinion of all waterfront residents.  Information gathered shows that those residents that live on a canal that is included in Option 1 are in favor of Option 1, those that are not included are in favor of the broader Option 2.