Posted on August 24, 2020
Boaters and paddlers only have a few short weeks left before the Petaluma River undergoes a makeover 17 years overdue, as dredging crews prepare for a weeks-long process to extract the silt that has suffocated the tidal waterway and Petaluma’s once-thriving river culture.
With the promise of a renewed river just months away, city leaders, residents and river recreationists are busy sketching out a future for the city’s centrally-bifurcating river after years of neglect and unnavigable conditions.
“Once the river is dredged and there’s more activity, that just pulls more people toward thinking what they can do on the river,” said Mayor Teresa Barrett, who has led the charge in lobbying the federal Army Corps of Engineers to prioritize the project.
The Petaluma River has not been fully dredged since 2002, causing silt to pile up in areas along the river, most severely in the Turning Basin and the city-owned Marina. As the daily tides swept in more choking debris over the years, fewer and fewer boats were willing to tackle the increasingly shallow and hazardous waterway.
The sights of boats and small yachts on downtown sections of the river receded into residents’ memories, and the town’s once-thriving river culture ran aground.
The Yacht Club’s annual events, which would attract skippers from all over the Bay Area, were canceled. The annual Christmas Lighted Boat Parade was also canceled, and tourism has significantly suffered – with a 2015 U.S. Army Corps of Engineer assessment estimating $1.3 million annual revenue losses downtown business due to the lack of dredging.
“All summer long the yachts would come up from the Bay Area,” said Steve Jette, an experienced sailor and the head of the city-owned Marina and Turning Basin. “This is the prime destination, because there’s nowhere else where you find a marina that’s right in the center of town. For the longest time, we were a river town without a center.”
Although a concrete work timeline remains hazy, city staff is expecting a tentative Sept. 7 start date, which will be conducted by San Diego-based Pacific Dredge & Construction. As the days inch closer, preparations and inspections are taking place throughout the city.
City staff has conducted an inspection of the Shollenberger Park area last week, where dredging materials are to be stored, and a hydrographic survey is set to begin Thursday at the earliest.
Meanwhile, crews have been keeping an eye on the D Street Bridge to ensure the drawbridge is operational after emergency repairs.
Vessel and dock owners will soon hear from city staff, if they haven’t already, to coordinate relocation of craft to designated areas before the dredging begins.
Dredging is expected to not only dramatically increase access for paddlers, boat enthusiasts and commercial shipping operations, but will also visibly transform a waterway that at times looks more like a continuous mud bank than a flowing river.
Greg Sabourin, founder of the North Bay Rowing Club and the anticipated Floathouse river recreation project in the Turning Basin, says he’s never seen the river as choked as it is now.
“I’ve been on the river since the early 80s, and I’ve never seen it this drastic,” Sabourin said. “You can’t get out on the water during some of these low tides.”
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced in February that it allocated roughly $9.7 million for the project, a celebrated announcement after years of lobbying by city leaders and U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael.
Jette said surrounding yacht clubs, from San Francisco to Stockton, are already expressing interest in returning to the Petaluma River, while local clubs and boating facilities anxiously await the project to commence.
“I’m really looking forward to this, and I think this is one of those things that in this time, it’s nice to have something positive to look forward to,” Barrett said.
Source: Argus Courier
