How anthropogenic factors in the back-barrier area influence tidal inlet stability: examples from the Gulf Coast of Florida, USA

Human development along the coast of the world has caused important changes to coastal morphodynamics. The barrier-inlet system of Florida, especially the tidal inlets, has been severely impacted by this development. Beginning in the 1920s and continuing through the 1960s there was: (1) extensive construction of fill-type causeways connecting the mainland to the barrier islands, (2) widespread dredge-and-fill construction along the backbarrier and mainland, and (3) dredging of the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) in the back-barrier area. The primary effect of these various types of construction and development was to cause instability of many inlets by diminishing the tidal flux through them. In some cases there was a combination of human and natural causes that resulted in the inlet degradation or closure such as at Dunedin Pass and Blind Pass. whereas at others this instability was almost exclusively the result of human activity such as at Midnight Pass. Although these detrimental development practices have been stopped, a large amount of irreparable damage has been done.