Blue water lagoon designed presented to Harrison County

‘Operation Clear Water’ hopes to bring a blue water lagoon to the Gulfport Beach.

Kenneth Jones, owner of Gulf Coast Development and Design, presented a recreation design to the Harrison County supervisors.

The design is for a mile-long lagoon from Island View Casino to Broad Avenue. The initial design creates a dredged lagoon, six to eight feet deep, with shoreline protection for beach erosion and piers.

The lagoon will filter water from storm water pipes and use oysters to filter water and create a recreational swimming area.

Gulf Coast Development and Design is looking to Harrison County as a sponsor for the $22 million project since the county owns and maintains the current sand beach.

Jones said, “The Nature Conservancy has done several projects like this including one in Alabama. It’s different because it doesn’t have the swimming lagoons, but they are very well situated to bring expertise to the table that are needed for this kind of project to succeed. If we had two or three different sites, they’d be great test locations and spread that economic impact.”

The Nature Conservancy would be a major partner in making this project come to life.