Do I Need a Permit to Dredge My Canal in Florida? Exemptions, Counties and Conditions

Yes, or at least a documented exemption. FDEP states that dredging and filling on or over wetlands and other surface waters is regulated by the department and the five water management districts, that dredge and fill is also regulated federally under a separate program administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and that applicants should obtain all needed authorizations from all of these agencies before dredging. [floridadep.gov]

The county is the third layer. In Miami-Dade, a DERM Class I permit is required before any work in, on, over or upon tidal waters or coastal wetlands, inside every municipality in the county. [miamidade.gov]

A verbal "it's exempt" from a neighbor or a past contractor is not a permit. Get it verified in writing and clear the federal and county steps before a bucket goes in the water.

Florida Statute 403.813(1)(f) exempts maintenance dredging of existing man-made canals and channels from the state Environmental Resource Permit, but only inside these limits: [flsenate.gov]

• Restoration only. The work restores the canal to its original design specifications or configurations. [flsenate.gov]
• Depth cap. Unless earlier permits from the Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund or the Army Corps show a deeper original design, the dredge goes no more than 5 feet below mean low water. [flsenate.gov]
• Upland spoil. Spoil goes to a self-contained, upland spoil site which will prevent the escape of the spoil material into the waters of the state. [flsenate.gov]
• Age or permits. The canal was constructed before April 3, 1970, or later pursuant to all necessary state permits. [flsenate.gov]
• Turbidity and manatees. Control devices to prevent turbidity are used, and manatee protection follows s. 379.2431(2)(d). [flsenate.gov]
• No plug removal. Removing a natural or manmade barrier separating a canal or canal system from adjacent waters is never covered. [flsenate.gov]

Rule 62-330.051(7)(a), F.A.C., adopts this exemption into the ERP rules that FDEP and the water management districts apply (law.cornell.edu/regulations/florida/Fla-Admin-Code-Ann-R-62-330-051).

Because the exemption applies by its own terms, owners usually ask the agency to confirm it before work starts. FDEP and the water management districts accept a Request for Verification of Exemption, Form 62-330.050(1). The written verification is what you show the county, the Army Corps and, later, a buyer. [floridadep.gov]

The Army Corps' review is separate and runs in parallel. In South Florida the Jacksonville District handles the file, using general permits for routine maintenance and individual permits for the rest. Which one fits your canal is confirmed when the application is prepared, because the general permits are reissued periodically and their conditions change.

Miami-Dade. DERM's Class I permit covers all work in, on, over or upon tidal waters or coastal wetlands, countywide. [miamidade.gov]

Under County Code section 24-48.2, non-maintenance dredging of submerged lands exceeding 100 square feet must be filed as a standard-form application, and standard-form applications require Board of County Commissioners approval at a public hearing. [miamidade.elaws.us]

Broward. The county's Environmental Permitting Division reviews dredge and fill. If a site is determined to contain wetlands, an Environmental Resource License is required prior to any dredging, filling or other alteration. [broward.org]

Palm Beach. The county sits inside the South Florida Water Management District, one of the five districts that run the state ERP program with FDEP, so the state permit or exemption runs through SFWMD. [floridadep.gov]

Manatee. The district there is the Southwest Florida Water Management District, not SFWMD. The county's 311 page for canal dredging offers no guidance beyond a service-request form, so plan on the state exemption process through SWFWMD plus a check with the county before filing. [manateecountyfl.qscend.com]

Spoil. The exemption requires a self-contained upland spoil site that keeps the material, and the water draining off it, out of state waters. Dredged mud does not go back in the canal and does not sit on your lawn; it is drained on the barge or in containers and trucked to a permitted upland site. [flsenate.gov]

Seagrass and hard bottom. Miami-Dade's code protects seagrass beds, hard bottom, mangrove communities, and coral and sponge communities, and DERM's Class I package calls Biscayne Bay, a state Aquatic Preserve and Outstanding Florida Water, critical habitat for the manatee and the threatened Johnson's seagrass. Where these are present, expect a survey and, if the dredge cannot avoid them, avoidance or mitigation conditions. [miamidade.gov]

Manatees. The Army Corps' Standard Manatee Conditions for In-Water Work require all in-water operations to shut down if a manatee comes within 50 feet, with work resuming only after the animal has moved beyond the 50-foot radius or 30 minutes have elapsed. [saj.usace.army.mil]

Turbidity. The exemption requires control devices to prevent turbidity. In practice that is a floating turbidity curtain or boom around the work so stirred-up silt stays inside the site. These conditions are written into the permit; a licensed contractor builds them into the plan. [flsenate.gov]

Whether you own the bottom depends on the canal. Some residential canal bottoms were deeded with the lots or are held by an association or canal district; others are state-owned submerged lands. Your deed and a title search answer it.

The exemption treats earlier permits from the Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund or the Army Corps as the record of a canal's original design depth, so old permits are worth finding before you file. [flsenate.gov]

Expect the paperwork to take longer than the dredging. A Miami-Dade homeowner's guide to waterfront permitting says to assume several months from a complete application to authorization, and longer where habitat, water depth, dredging or neighbor objections are in play. [gabrielmoyers.com]

Lauderdale-By-The-Sea obtained permits from the Army Corps, FDEP and Broward's environmental agency for its canal dredge: it began pursuing them in 2020 and started Phase 1 the week of December 12, 2022. [lauderdalebythesea-fl.gov]

A verified maintenance exemption is the fastest path; a Miami-Dade public hearing or seagrass mitigation is the slow one. Plan the boat season around the paperwork.