Tarpon Springs to create Seawall Master Plan

Much of the city’s extensive seawall system is in need of repair or replacement

TARPON SPRINGS — Take a trip to Tarpon Springs and you’ll notice the waterfront community relies on seawalls to prevent water from the Gulf of Mexico from seeping onto city streets and into residents’ backyards.

Take the same trip during a typical Florida summer rainstorm and you’ll notice many of the short seawalls quickly become overwhelmed by rapidly rising water, leading to extensive flooding throughout the city as well as the deterioration of the structures.

For the past few years, Tarpon officials, led by Mayor Chris Alahouzos, have addressed the issue of sea level rise with measures like installing check valves and pursuing an underground pumping station at the Sponge Docks while performing patchwork repairs to the crumbling seawalls. But now Tarpon is addressing the situation directly by creating a Seawall Master Plan designed to evaluate the extensive seawall system and provide estimates to repair and/or replace certain segments, which would be conducted as needed via a schedule spanning several years and even decades.