Waterlefe Golf and River Club

Client: Florida Coast Development, Inc., Watermark Communities, Inc.

Location: Manatee County, FL

Summary: Waterlefe Golf and River Club is an upscale residential community located on the banks of the Manatee River and adjacent to extensive tidal marsh. Originally, the project area was a former truck farm heavily infested by dense nuisance and exotic plants, such as Brazilian pepper. ENTRIX assisted with all aspects of environmental assessment, planning, and permitting for this project. Our firm conducted listed species surveys and prepared management and protection plans for a nesting pair of bald eagles and manatees using the adjacent river. ENTRIX also provided wetland delineation, wetland impact permitting, and the design and implementation of mitigation wetlands. As part of the mitigation for the project, ENTRIX designed the removal of approximately 700 linear feet of earthen berm in the Manatee River to restore approximately 1.5 acres of tidal marsh and enhance the altered hydrology of approximately 40 additional acres of tidal marsh.

ENTRIX also designed and implemented the nuisance and exotic species removal from a network of upland and fresh water preservation areas on the project. Significant among the services provided was the successful negotiation of a solution to a permit challenge filed by the Save-the-Manatee Club. ENTRIX was successful in negotiating a series of protective measures, such as manatee awareness signs and channel markers, that allowed approval of the proposed 59-slip boat docking facility on the Manatee Waterlefe Golf and River Club River estuary. The Environmental Resource Permit for the site was approved by the Florida Governor and Cabinet.

ENTRIX subsequently assisted with dredge permitting for the multi-slip dock facility to re-establish access for boats. Services included strategic planning and design of the dredging plan through coordination with the client, engineers, surveyors, geologists, marine contractors, and agency personnel. ENTRIX assisted with environmental permitting through the Southwest Florida Water Management District, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, US Army Corps of Engineers, Manatee County, and US Coast Guard. ENTRIX’s services included a submerged resource survey, Sovereign Submerged Lands negotiations, facilitation of spoil disposal, development of dredging methodology, dewatering plan development for the spoil disposal site, development of a turbidity monitoring plan for water quality assurances, soil boring and sediment analysis, permit applications, meetings and negotiations with multiple agencies, and construction oversight for permit compliance purposes.