Our Work is Never Complete!

The bottom center and bottom right photos are the same sawgrass island from the same resident's backyard, center photo was taken in 2007 and bottom right was taken in 2025. It's amazing how much of the islands we have lost!

The four barrier islands that serve as storm buffers for the city of Crystal River - Parker Island, Banana Island, Warden Key, and Buzzard Island - are slowly disappearing at an alarming rate, due to erosion, and that rate is increasing every year. They are disappearing due to storm surges, winds, and hurricane effects on shoreline grasses. The roots are being eaten away by some aquatic species.

Without these islands, there’s no stopping storm surge from negatively impacting our community, roads, and infrastructure, and protecting our homes and businesses in Crystal River.

We are working to raise awareness and funds to support the use of both "green" and "gray" infrastructure enhancements through the Florida Resilient Program. These are solutions that build up resiliency measures for coastlines to protect them from storms and severe weather.

These solutions include:

• Installing Wave Attenuation Devices, which stop shoreline erosion by attenuating 90% of wave energy

• Removing eroded sediment and placing the restored sediment on marsh islands with lower elevation

  
  

  Planting eelgrass and submerged aquatic vegetation to support shoreline stability These solutions, among others, will give the islands much needed protection against continued shoreline erosion, while enhancing coastal resilience and promoting long-term economic and ecological sustainability of the City of Crystal River.