Boca Raton Inlet is the southernmost inlet in Palm Beach County.
Originally a natural waterway, the inlet has changed locations at
least three times in the past 200 years (Bream 1990).
In the late 1760's, the inlet was located in the northeast corner of
the present Lake Boca Raton (figure 5). By the 1800's, the inlet had
closed at its northern location and reopened in the southeast corner
of the lake. Both inlet locations had opened and closed constantly
with drifting sands. The Mackay-Blake map of Florida published in
1840 shows that there was no inlet at Boca Raton at that time (Austin
1976). When Florida became a state in 1845, the Bruff map included
no inlet at Boca Raton; historical records even as late as 1914
showed no inlet (Austin 1976).
A map from the 1740's named the inlet Rio Seco, or Dry River (Austin
1976). In a map published in 1775, surveyor Bernard Romans agreed
that Rio Seco was in fact this inlet. The waterway was not called
Boca Raton Inlet until after 1838. Another inlet far down the coast
at the north end of Biscayne Bay was named Boca Ratones (or Boca de
Ratones) according to maps by De Brahm in the 1770's. The inlet has
been named by the Spaniards, not for rats as is commonly thought, but
for the sharp, submerged rocks found off the Atlantic entrance to the
passage (Chardon 1975). The inlet was closed by 1822 by infilling
sand, and by 1838 another inlet had opened to the south. This new
inlet was called Boca Ratones by some, and Narrows Cut or Norris Cut
by others. According to Chardon (1975), the issue was incorrectly
resolved by giving the name Boca Ratones to a third inlet much
farther north in present south Palm Beach County.
Engineering drawings by the Riddle Company in 1925 placed the
proposed inlet location about 800 feet north of its former location
and oriented east-west, stabilized by 400 foot jetties 200 feet
apart. That site was dredged in 1926 (Boca Raton Historical
Society).
The War Department authorized Spanish River Land Company on September
3, 1930 "to construct jetties and revetment, dredging and
filling in Boca Raton Inlet" (Boca Raton Historical Society) .
In 1930-31, local interests financed the construction of two parallel
jetties at a cost of $130,000 in an attempt to solve the beach erosion problem (Strock
1979). From 1940-1945 the Army Air Force dredged 14,700 cubic yards
of material from the channel. In the late 1940's 11,000 cu yd of
material was dredged from the inlet and placed on the south beach.
In 1947, a hurricane destroyed the north jetty permitting sand and
silt to clog the inlet (Delray News-Journal 1956). In 1951, Mr. J.
M. Schine, then owner of the Boca Raton Hotel, had offered to donate
land to either side of the inlet if the city would agree to repair
the jetties. The city had to decline the offer because of a lack of
funds to repair the jetties. Local interests spent $8,000 for repair
of the damaged jetties and maintenance dredging of the inlet (Strock
1979). Repeated dredging gave only temporary relief until 1956 when
new improvements were expected to remedy the situation. By then the
inlet was largely blocked, making navigation hazardous and polluting
the lake and the Intracoastal Waterway. In July 1956, the inlet was
widened, and the inlet and Lake Boca Raton were deepened to 10 feet.
Work also included rebuilding the north side of the jetty and capping
the south side (Delray News-Journal 1956).
For nearly 20 years, city agencies had come and gone, the problem of
the inlet had been studied and re-studied, and part-way measures had
been taken, but no solution had been found (Boca Raton News 1966).
Early in 1966, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers turned down a
proposal for federal funding of a sand transfer system across the
inlet because "benefit would not be sufficient to justify the
costs" (Boca Raton News 1966).
A northeaster plugged the inlet during the 1966 Thanksgiving weekend
(Boca Raton News 1966). Wind had blown sand over the jetty from the
adjoining beach, and waves were high enough to break over the jetty,
carrying even more sand directly into the inlet. Sand was also
carried into the mouth of the inlet from the ocean. A sand bar
formed all the way across the inlet and three feet above the high
tide mark (Boca Raton News 1966). Weeds and trash were backing up
for hundreds of feet. All flood water had to leave the Intracoastal
through Hillsboro Inlet (which was also partially closed) or South
Lake Worth Inlet. Dredging operations successfully reopened the
inlet sometime before Christmas that year, with a small channel three
feet deep and 15-20 feet wide.
After the inlet was reopened in December 1966, another storm hit and
plugged the inlet. Following much debated over what to do, city workmen began work to
reopen the inlet on February 1, 1967 (Rifenburg 1968). Water trickled through the inlet
during the summer of 1967.
In the winter of 1967, high winds again put a sand bar across the
mouth of the passage. After the Boca Raton News reported that
the stagnant waters of Lake Boca Raton were indeed polluted, the city
quickly ordered the inlet opened one more time. It was not, however,
dredged to depths navigable for large boats (Rifenburg 1968).
The first phase of a three phase inlet program would fund the repairs
and extension of the north jetty and dredging. Eventual completion
of the program would apparently remedy a situation that had been a
source of irritation for citizens, developers, and city officials for
many years (Rifenburg 1968).
In April 1969, Arvida Corporation dredged the inlet open. It took 11
days to complete the 150 feet wide channel . Again, in February 1970,
Arvida dredged the inlet; but this time, because of stormy weather,
it took seven weeks to dig a channel 75 feet wide and six feet deep
(Arvida 1970).
In 1972, the inlet, its jetties, and maintenance access easements
were deeded to the City of Boca Raton with the stipulation that the inlet be kept navigable (Strock
1979). The city purchased an 8-inch hydraulic pipeline dredge to
maintain the inlet and transfer beach material to the beach south of
the inlet.
The Boca Raton Inlet Tax District was authorized in a bill passed by the Florida State Legislature April 20, 1972 and was submitted for approval by the people in a referendum July 18, 1972. The purpose was to have a body set up by law responsible to the public and with powers and duties clearly defined concerning inlet maintenance (Gallagher 1972). The bill was voted down.
In November 1972, the City purchased its own dredge for $112,000.
The City also signed an agreement with Arvida, which owned the beach
north and south of the inlet. The developer agreed to pay $10,000
per year until 1983 to have the inlet dredged (Rogers 1978). Since
regular maintenance dredging began in 1972, the inlet has remained
open (Morrissey 1992).
In 1975, the north jetty was extended 180 feet seaward and the south
jetty was reinforced; flanking of the south jetty began, the
horseshoe bar was eliminated, and shoaling in the inlet was reduced
(figure 6). In 1977 and 1978, the city spent $71,300 to dredge the
waterway (Rogers 1978). In 1980, a weir section 65 feet long was
constructed in the north jetty to allow a portion of the sand
accreting on the north beach to be transported south. The south
jetty was extended landward to prevent flanking. Dredging operations
placed 297,000 cubic yards of material on the south beach in 1985.
Most of the sand was taken from the ebb shoal.
Today the entrance channel is approximately 150 feet wide and 10 feet
deep. The north jetty is 650 feet long with a 65 foot weir section
two-thirds of the way seaward. The south jetty is 800 feet long.
The City of Boca Raton operates a dredge to bypass material from
inside the inlet to the south beach. The City has transferred an
average of 55,000 cubic yards of material per year to the downdrift
beaches since 1980.
Funding Alternatives
There are several funding sources that
could potentially grant support to an inlet improvement project. The
largest single source may come from the Florida Inland Navigation
District’s Waterway Assistance Program, having supported over $18M
in improvements to navigation over the years http://www.aicw.org/wap/wap.htm).
Other potential sources of funds may be
the National Boating Infrastructure Grant Program
(http://myfwc.com/boating/grants/bigp.htm) and the state’s Florida
Boating Improvement Program
(http://myfwc.com/boating/grants/fbip.htm).
Lastly, there is
a federally-backed Recreational Boating Safety program that would be
administered through the U.S. Coast Guard
(http://www.uscgboating.org/grants/state/rbs.htm).
References
Arvida Corporation, 1970, "Inlet report submitted
to city", in
Arvida Corp. News, v. 2, n. 1, p. 8., Boca Raton Historical Society
inlet files, Boca Raton, Fl.
Austin, D. F. , 1976, Mangroves as monitors of change in
the Spanish River, in
Florida Environmental and Urban Issues, v. 3, n. 3, p. 4-7, 15-16.
Boca Raton Historical Society, Inlet files, Boca Raton,
Fl.
Boca Raton News, 1966,
"Plugged inlet plagues city: winds, tides close jinxed
waterway": November 27 edition, v.
12, no. 3, Boca Raton, Fl . , Boca Raton Historical
Society inlet files, Boca Raton, Fl.
Bream, J., 1990, "The legends of Boca Raton: first
in a series": in
Boca Club Life, August issue, Boca Raton Historical Society inlet
files, Boca Raton, Fl.
Chardon, R. E. , 1975, Northern Biscayne Bay in 1776, in
Tequesta: journal of the historical association of southern Florida,
Bicentennial History of Miami, vol. XXXV, p. 37-74.
Delray News-Journal, 1956,
"Job of dredging Boca lake, inlet expected to start next week",
July 19 edition, Delray Beach, Fl . , Boca Raton Historical Society
inlet files, Boca Raton, Fl.
Gallagher, J. W., 1972, Boca Raton Inlet, in
Fiesta, July issue, Boca Raton, Fl ., Boca Raton Historical Society
inlet files, Boca Raton, Fl.
Morrissey, S., 1992, "Boca captain inlet's guardian
angel", in Palm Beach
Post, March 15 edition, West Palm Beach, Fl.
Rifenburg, J., 1968, "Will the inlet move third
time?", in Boca Raton
News, March 10 edition, Boca Raton, Fl . , Boca Raton Historical
Society inlet files, Boca Raton, Fl.
Rogers, J., 1978, "Inlet subject of rumors,
shipwrecks, smuggling: site called 'the rat's mouth' by early
navigators of area", in Ft. Lauderdale
News and Sun-Sentinel,
June 25 edition, Ft. Lauderdale, Fl., Boca Raton Historical Society
inlet files, Boca Raton, Fl.
Strock and Associates, 1979, Boca Raton Inlet and
adjacent beaches: preliminary report, Boca Raton, Fl.
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