Posted on February 18, 2020
An excavator and construction truck sit parked on Sandy Pond Beach on Wednesday morning near Watertown. Oak Orchard Harbor and Johnson Creek are among 20 dredging sites announced Wednesday by Gov. Andrew Cuomo as part of the state’s $300 million effort to build resiliency along Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River.
With the ongoing high waters of Lake Ontario, a $15 million regional dredging initiative is part of the State’s $300 million effort to repair and build resiliency in communities recovering from damage caused by high water levels and flooding.
Orleans County is one of the eight counties on the list to receive REDI grants, which includes work slated to dredge Oak Orchard Harbor and Johnson Creek.
For the Oak Orchard Harbor project, Jim Bensley, director of Orleans County Planning, said the county gets sedimentation around the break wall and it affects which boats can come up the river. It makes a shallower draft, and boats need to navigate carefully — if the situation is let go, some boats won’t be able to navigate through there at all.
“Oak Orchard Harbor considered a small recreational harbor,” he said. “It’s not considered a commercial shipping harbor. So the Army Corp. of Engineers doesn’t dredge it anymore, so Orleans County wanted to get a program in place to dredge the harbor, and the REDI money would help with that.”
Information for what will be the specific details for the Johnson Creek project were not received prior to press time Thursday evening.
Each dredging project is targeted to be complete no more than four months from its start date, with dredging expected to commence in June 2021 for Oak Orchard Harbor and July 2021 for Johnson Creek.
The funding complements Governor Cuomo’s creation of REDI, which includes a multi-agency commission that has been studying ways to strengthen infrastructure along Lake Ontario’s waterfront while bolstering the region’s local economies. Through REDI, the state has committed up to $300 million, for 133 projects, to rebuild the shoreline, as well as improve resiliency in flood prone regions along Lake Ontario.
The state’s initial support for the Regional Dredging Project is designed to give Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River counties the time needed to develop long-term operational, maintenance, and funding plans to maintain recreational navigation channels in the future. The harbors along the southern shore of Lake Ontario alone are estimated to generate $94 million in economic activity and support more than 1,350 local jobs.
Source: thedailynewsonline.com
