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Sarasota News Leader September 20, 2013 project, along with a new initiative to reopen Midnight Pass on Siesta Key, Miller added, "I think are evidence of just how out of touch we are with our coastal strategy in Sarasota County." THE PLAN AND MODELS Using a PowerPoint presentation, Mora explained that 1.2 million cubic yards of sand would be dredged from Big Pass — and possibly New Pass, as well — to fill in Lido Beach over a 1.6-mile stretch from just north of John Ringling Boulevard to Lido Key Park. Page 20 Mora also said that if a major erosion event occurred between the five-year renourishment periods, he was hopeful Congress would authorize emergency funding for an earlier initiative to restore the beach to pre-storm conditions. Regarding the three groins proposed on the southern end of Lido Key, Mora said, "[They] are constructed to anchor the nourishment template, not to intercept sediment at the expense of down-drift beaches." In other words, they are being planned to keep the new sand in place on Lido without harming Siesta Public Beach, as sand on Florida's west coast tends to drift from north to south. The plan calls for renourishment intervals over a 50-year period, he continued. Every The Corps and its consultants have been workfive years, another 615,000 cubic yards of sand ing on models of Big Pass and the affected would be used in those subsequent projects. area over the past 18 months, Mora explained. A diagram shows where three groins would be constructed on the southern end of Lido Key. Photo by Rachel Hackney