Sebastian Inlet District
Sebastian Inlet is a premier fishing, boating, and surfing destination on Florida’s East coast, offering a host of other recreational activities for water sports enthusiasts and nature lovers. The inlet supports one of the most rich and biologically diverse estuaries in North America and is situated between Brevard and Indian River counties . The inlet is vital not only to the ecological health of the Indian River Lagoon, but it is also an important economic engine for local communities in the region as one of only five navigable channels that connect the Indian River Lagoon to the Atlantic Ocean.
Created as an independent special taxing district in 1919 by special act of the Florida State Legislature, the Sebastian Inlet District was chartered to maintain the navigational channel between the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian River. The Sebastian Inlet District is responsible for bypassing sand that migrates into the inlet system to downdrift beaches per the Florida Beach & Shore Preservation Act, and conducts periodic dredging, channel maintenance, sand bypass and beach renourishment projects. Other critical functions include erosion control, emergency beach and dune repair, shoreline stabilization and inlet infrastructure maintenance, public safety in navigation, and environmental monitoring and protection. The Sebastian Inlet District routinely works with marine scientists to conduct biological monitoring of the critically important habitats surrounding the inlet that support a broad range of different species.
Governed by a 5-member elected Commission, the Sebastian Inlet District works in coordination with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), Sebastian Inlet State Park officials and other local, state and federal agencies.