the beach directly east is known as Holiday Isle. The spit has been developed 

 with roads, canals, and condominiums since the 1970s. 



Choctawhatchee Bay, landlocked except for East Pass and Santa Rosa 

 Sound, has an area of 122 square miles, is approximately 30 miles long, and 

 averages 4 miles in width north to south. The Garniers, Boggy, Rocky, and 

 La Grange Bayous to the north and the Choctawhatchee River to the east 



Reference NOAA Hydro-graphic 

 Chart #11388. Choctawhatchee 

 ly and Approaches. 16th Editioi 

 Dec. 23, 1995 



Figure 1 . Location map for the study site and the Gulf of Mexico 



provide freshwater influx into the bay. The Intracoastal Waterway connects to 

 the eastern edge of the bay, and Santa Rosa Sound attaches at the southwest edge. 

 East Pass links the Gulf of Mexico to the bay at the bay's southwest edge. 



The stability of East Pass is of great significance to local interests. Traffic 

 through the inlet includes charter vessels, a fishing fleet, recreational craft, some 

 freight traffic, and military vessels. The tourism and real estate industries also 

 have a vested interest in the condition of the inlet, specifically, the inlet's eastern 

 side consisting of Holiday Isle and Norriego Point. 



A review of East Pass history and the surrounding area gives the natural 

 behavior of the inlet as well as an account of the inlet's response to previous 

 stabilization attempts. As the only inlet for 100 miles on this stretch of the 

 Florida panhandle, East Pass has provided a passageway for vessels since the 

 early 1800s. The first hydrographic map of the area, made by John Williams in 

 1 827, indicates that Moreno Point occupied much the same position as it does 

 today (Morang 1992). In addition, the location of a flood shoal and the northern 

 terminus of the pass was also situated at its current position adjacent to Moreno 

 Point. The southern terminus, however, has changed significantly. The 1827 

 inlet mouth entered the Gulf of Mexico 1.5 miles east of its current position. 

 During this time, the inlet had a more northwest to southeast orientation. The 

 brackish pond 0.5 miles east of the 1827 inlet mouth implies that in the past, the 



Chapter 1 Background and Problem Statement 



