Unidentified Speaker 2 (Speaker) said Citrus County is deploying a new three-part artificial reef offshore, using salvaged material and federal RESTORE funds. "Right now, we're sitting on the, second drop zone of the, new artificial reef that we're deploying," the speaker said.

The speakers described the reef as composed of material salvaged from the Cross Florida barge canal bridge that was broken into "right around, 1,900 tons of material." Unidentified Speaker 1 (Speaker) said Drop 1 has already been placed, Drop 2 was the zone they were observing, and crews will move to Drop 3 when work on the current site is complete.

Project proponents emphasized ecological benefits. Unidentified Speaker 2 said changing the bottom contour alters local biomass and quickly attracts marine life: "When you put in a reef system like this where there's a significant change in relief of the bottom, the bottom contour, now that changes the biomass of that area. What that means is that now you start getting fish that feed on those smaller bait fishes. It started attracting, it starts attracting snappers, groupers, things like that." Unidentified Speaker 1 added that biological colonization can appear within hours or days and that divers have already observed life on the newly placed structures.

Speakers described the reef layout as three sections spaced roughly 350 feet apart; they said all three could be dived on a single tank from shallow depths. "So there's, there's 3 sections are about 3 50 feet apart, diving. And you could actually probably dive all 3 of them on 1 tank," Unidentified Speaker 1 said.

Funding for the reef, speakers said, came entirely from RESTORE funds distributed after the BP oil spill. "The money that funded this project came entirely from the Restore Funds," Unidentified Speaker 2 said, adding that each coastal county received an allocation and that Citrus County used part of its share for this offshore reef while directing other funds to local projects such as a riverwalk in Crystal River.

No formal votes or policy actions were recorded in the transcript. Speakers presented the deployment as a collaborative, multi-year effort; one speaker said the project has been in development for nine years and that recent work over a single weekend marked notable progress. The presentation concluded with crews preparing to complete Drop 3 and continue monitoring biological settlement on the new reef structures.