A $129,200 oyster reef barrier system at Philippe Park in Safety Harbor has been showcased as a model project for Florida's Resilient Florida program, which has invested more than $1.5 billion in flood infrastructure statewide since 2021.

Kate Wesner, Florida director of the American Flood Coalition, toured the Philippe Park Living Shoreline Wave Attenuation project alongside Stacey Day and Nicole Maloney from the Pinellas County Division of Environmental Management, according to a July 21 Tampa Bay Beacons report. The visit was part of a series of site tours marking the fifth anniversary of the state legislation that created the Resilient Florida grant program.

The project consists of precast concrete reef domes arranged as oyster reef wave attenuation barriers along the park's shoreline. They break wave energy, reduce erosion, buffer storm surge and create wildlife habitat.

Pinellas County Environmental Management launched the effort in 2021. Workers installed a reef ring made of oyster shell bags about 200 feet off the southeastern shoreline in summer 2022. Four arrays of oyster domes followed in late summer 2024, placed at the end of the seawall just south of the Tocobaga Temple Mound, a National Historic Landmark. The county completed the full project in September 2024.

Philippe Park is the oldest park in Pinellas County, a 92-acre site along Old Tampa Bay at 2525 Philippe Parkway.

Wesner said the projects funded through Resilient Florida over the past five years are helping coastal and inland communities reduce flooding risks and protect critical infrastructure. The American Flood Coalition helped shape the underlying legislation, Senate Bill 1954, which Gov. Ron DeSantis signed on May 12, 2021. It established the Resilient Florida program within the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and the program now receives at least $200 million per year after 2024 legislation added gaming revenue as a funding source.

As part of the same anniversary tour, Wesner visited Largo's completed Sanitary Sewer Lift Station 47 and 41 Elevation Project, which received $1.25 million from Resilient Florida with a matching $1.25 million from the city. That project raised the station's concrete slab 3.25 feet and added a reinforced concrete wall bringing total elevation to 15.4 feet.

Residents can learn more about Pinellas County's flood resilience work at pinellas.gov or by contacting the Division of Environmental Management.