Posted on July 7, 2025
As area boaters take to the Mississippi River for a patriotic weekend of summer fun, the city of Dubuque is finalizing plans for another round of Peosta Channel dredging to ensure docks will still be accessible to pleasure craft.
Dubuque Assistant City Engineer Bob Schiesl said plans are in place to dredge an estimated 5,500 cubic yards of muck from the channel in and around the docks of Dubuque Marina near the Kerper Boulevard Industrial Area.
The docking area has been filling up with silt that flows from the main vein of the Mississippi into the Peosta Channel, especially during floods. The water recedes to a normal level but the muck remains.
The mud is removed with a mechanical dredger and dumped on a barge to be shipped elsewhere.
“Hopefully the dredging we’re doing opens up these channels and helps water circulation and provides adequate depths for boats for many years to come,” Schiesl said.
On Monday, the City Council will be asked to approve preliminary construction plans and a funding agreement with Dubuque Marina to help offset the cost of the dredging.
In recent cycles, the sole bidder has been local dredging company Newt Marine, which hauls the mud across the river to East Dubuque, Ill., for dewatering and then offers it for use as fill dirt. Schiesl said the process is open to other bidders up and down the river, however.
A public hearing on the project will follow on July 21 and the city anticipates awarding a contract on Aug. 4. The dredging work is planned for August through November.
This year’s plans include optional work to remove a T-shaped dock at Dubuque Marina to better dredge around it, as well as clear out the boat lift well at the river bank, which allows boats too large for a trailer to be lifted out of the water with a crane.
Unlike earlier rounds of dredging, this year’s project will be conducted without any local tax money. Instead, Dubuque Marina has pledged $100,000, which will be used to match a $170,000 grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, through the 1998 Sportfishing and Boating Safety Act.
“I like that. I’m sure the taxpayers appreciate it as well,” said Dubuque Council Member Danny Sprank.
Money from the Boating Safety Act also was used last year to dredge the opening of the Yardarm harbor just upstream from this year’s dredging target, also with a local match from Dubuque Marina. Marina representatives could not be reached by deadline.
In 2023, a much-bigger dredging project, including a docking area off Chaplain Schmitt Island and next to A.Y. McDonald Park, was paid for with $463,000 in city funds along with a $100,000 contribution from American Marine, which operates the island marina.
For next year, Schiesl said, the city has reached out to American Marine for dredging of the transient docks at Catfish Charlie’s riverfront restaurant, which have not been usable in several years during normal water levels because of excessive silting. Nothing has been finalized, but the city and the marina have until next spring to reach an agreement before the grant deadline.
“I would definitely support that. It allows the American Lady to go out on cruises, which promotes local river tourism,” Sprank said.
American Marine has several years left on its current lease, but a number of draft plans for a revamping of Chaplain Schmitt Island don’t include the marina — or Catfish Charlie’s, which operates the American Lady.
In their place are luxury condos and an elaborate playground adjacent to other dream developments, including a greatly expanded ice arena and multi-court gymnasium.
When pressed, Sprank said he wanted Catfish Charlie’s to stay, along with the island docks for boaters.
