Clam Bayou Restoration to be Completed by Earth Day

ST. PETERSBURG—Clam Bayou is almost finished with its facelift, and just in time to celebrate Earth Day.

Yes, the makeover took a little longer than expected. However, in the end the 127 acres of marshes, coastline and wildlife of the Clam Bayou estuary will be healthier for it.

"Of the three storm water treatment projects for Clam Bayou," said biologist Brandt Henningsen, "they will be finishing up by the end of March."

Henningsen is one of the environmental scientists in charge of the $5 million Clam Bayou Habitat Restoration project.

The Southwest Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), Florida's water management division for the Central Gulf coast, including Pinellas County, took up the task of rehabilitating Clam Bayou. It began in April 2010, and was supposed to end last year.

The first step in the seven-site project was removing layers of built-up mud and debris accumulated through nearly a century of urban development. However, it was not due so much to negligence, since the development of most of the area around Clam Bayou was prior to Florida's stormwater regulations.  

With the series of dredging, new intertidal lagoons and storm-water treatment pools, the 170-acre Clam Bayou ecosystem can soon begin the process of healing from years of abuse by runoff from the adjoining cities of Gulfport and St. Petersburg.

Now, for Earth Day weekend, officials will be holding a ceremony at Clam Bayou to finish the project. The event will start 8 a.m. Saturday, April 21, with a "Bayou Clean Up" event, followed by a formal dedication of the restored estuary.

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For months, the small Perry Bayview Community Playground—on the St. Petersburg edge of Clam Bayou—had more than your average play swings and jungle gyms. Children and residents of the neighborhood of 26th Avenue and 38th Street South had a front row seat for the ongoing rehabilitation of Clam Bayou—complete with full-size versions of toy trucks.

The park, built in 2010, sits at the edge of what will now be Central Pond, the last phase of the Clam Bayou Restoration project. Central Pond represents the most ambitious part of the bayou rehab plan, a 16-foot-deep treatment pond at the end of 27th Avenue South.

A newly-built cement gate, along with a breakhead of large of white rocks, lead directly into the pond. It is at the end of a recently dredged canal on the southeast edge of the Twin Brooks Golf Course. The basin and rocks are there to help guide stormwater from the north, before emptying it into Clam Bayou and Tampa Bay.

When completed, the pond will absorb water from more than 2,400-acres of watershed, an area containing the city of Gulfport and the Child's Park neighborhood of St. Petersburg.

Although the expected completion for Central Pond was last year, setbacks had officials forcing the date back.

"There was some damage to the culvert, as well as a burst retaining wall," Henningsen said, "So it has taken longer than originally planned."

Henningsen added that the district needed more time to "do the project right." He is confident Central Pond will be finished by the end of March.

During the Clam Bayou restoration, the City of St. Petersburg has also been hurrying to complete Phase II of the Clam Bayou Trail. A 12-foot wide multi-use trail will soon snake through Clam Bayou, connecting with the Pinellas Trail.

That project has been in the works since 2007, when the St. Petersburg City Council approved a southern extension of the Pinellas Trail. In May 2011, the board voted to provide additional funds for the Clam Bayou Trail, for a total of $1.47 million.

They also linked the construction schedule to the completion of the larger Clam Bayou Restoration project.

As for the Clam Bayou rehab, Henningsen is excited to see the project back on track and running smoothly, to its official end by Earth Day.

"It is turning out nicely," he said, "for the public, cleaner water and wildlife."