Posted on November 5, 2025
A major summer drought and low water levels have Burlington’s park department looking to bring in a contractor to begin what could be a $500,000+ dredging project
BURLINGTON, Vt. — The city of Burlington wants to bring in someone to do some dredging in the marina to make the water deeper in case the state experiences another drought next year.
Steve Pond has called Lake Champlain his home for half a century. He has been a ferry captain since the 1970s. Now retired, Pond says his last few trips on a boat have looked a bit different.
“Getting into Mallet’s Bay at the end of the season was a little spotty,” Pond said.
He, like many, encountered record-low water levels in the lake, leading to dangerously shallow water in some spots, which, in some cases, stranded boats.
“I was down by Shelburne Point, and I saw a sailboat in an area that I knew was shallow. I could tell by looking at it that it wasn’t going anywhere,” Pond said.
The city wants to plan ahead so they do not have these issues next year. The Department of Parks, Recreation and Waterfront is asking city council to allow it to bring in contractors who would dredge at the community boathouse and Perkins Pier marina. Those facilities have not been dredged in 25 years.
“Dredging is when you pull silt and sand and material out of the bottom of a body of water in order to make an area deeper,” said Lake Champlain Community Sailing Center Executive Director Owen Milne.
This project will likely set the city back more than half a million dollars, which exceeds the threshold for city council approval for these kind of projects. It will be an investment, according to the people who use the lake.
“The peril of running into something and running aground is much higher when the lake level is as low as it is,” Milne said.
The council approved the request Monday, on the condition that this does not cost more than $650,000. Now, the parks department will need to request a proposal from a third-party contractor.
The plan is to get dredging done before the docks open back up next spring. The community boathouse opens May 15.
