Posted on February 26, 2018
By Jacqueline Allison, goanacortes
Swinomish Channel dredging and a new partnership between ports to draw in tourists and businesses were topics discussed at an annual joint meeting between the Port of Skagit and Port of Anacortes last week.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has proposed $1.53 million for dredging of the Swinomish Channel, but the ports won’t have those funds until Congress passes an omnibus spending bill for the remainder of 2018.
Dredging is required to keep the 11-mile channel from Saratoga Passage to Padilla Bay 12 feet deep. The channel refills with sediment, and the ports must dredge it every three to four years. The channel was last dredged in 2014.
About 40,000 cubic yards of material are deposited at the channel’s southern entrance each year, according to the Army Corps.
The Swinomish Channel supports about 50 businesses, two tribes and 500 jobs in Washington, U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen wrote in the letter to federal officials in December in support of the project.
Funding would help ports find a long-term solution to ongoing problems and reduce future dredging requirements.
The ports hopes to extend the dredge cycle to 10 years, Port of Anacortes Executive Director Dan Worra said at the meeting.
However, the 2019 spending bill only allocated $2,000 for the project.
Still, the ports are hoping the $1.53 million funds will come through.
“We’re optimistic given the position we’re in that we’ll be able to get the dredge done this year,” Port of Skagit Director of Planning and Facilities Sarah Young said.
Commissioners and staff also spoke about economic opportunities from a potential partnership between the “Northern” ports (Anacortes, Skagit, Bellingham) to help market the region to tourists and businesses.
“For us to pool together and market this whole region, I think that would be very beneficial,” Commissioner Jon Petrich said.
The natural beauty draws tourists to the area, but good jobs and safe communities encourage people to come back, said Commissioner Kathy Pittis.
The partnership could expand to include the ports of Everett, Whidbey and San Juan Islands, Worra said.
The executive directors of both ports will draft a proposal and present to the Port of Skagit Commission in several months.
Source: goanacortes
