Posted on February 16, 2021
SALISBURY — The town manager has sand on his mind these days, a lot of sand.
The news broke late last month that the federal budget for the coming fiscal year will include $19 million for dredging sand from the Merrimack and Piscataqua rivers.
More than 220,000 cubic yards of sand from the Merrimack is expected to be used to rebuild the beach at Reservation Terrace on Plum Island.
But the Piscataqua River dredge is expected to produce between 200,000 and 300,000 cubic yards of sand and Town Manager Neil Harrington said his goal is to get as much of that material as possible for Salisbury.
“We want to get the sand just as much as the people on Plum Island do,” he said.
Harrington said he is in discussions with elected officials in Newbury and Newburyport, trying to figure out just how much sand each community could get.
“All three communities have gotten together in the past to come up with a reasonable arrangement for who gets how much sand and who is going to pay for it,” Harrington said. “We will look to do that again sometime between now and the late spring. More sand will be yielded by the Piscataqua River dredge. That sand won’t go necessarily to Plum Island but more likely to Salisbury and down to Nantasket on the South Shore.”
He said estimates point to a cost of $3 to $4 per cubic yard to bring the sand to this area.
“There was supposed to be 300,000 cubic yards of sand available,” Harrington said. “So that would be somewhere between $900,000 and $1.2 million.”
Salisbury Beach is under the supervision of the state Department of Conservation and Recreation and Salisbury would be looking to come up with a cost-sharing agreement with the state.
“It doesn’t necessarily have to be a 50/50 cost share,” Harrington said. “In fact, we would probably be asking the state to pay more than 50% since we can’t afford $600,000.”
Harrington said the town has already set aside $150,000 to purchase some of the Piscataqua River sand.
“If we need more than that, I will need to go to the spring Town Meeting for the appropriation,” he said. “We want to be able to get as much sand as we possibly can, particularly if the state is going to pay for at least half, if not more of it.”
He said dredging options are only available when the federal government funds such a project.
“The last time the Merrimack River was dredged was 10 years ago, I believe,” he said. “I don’t know the last time the Piscataqua River was dredged. So it could be another 10 years before we see another one. Who knows? When there is a dredge opportunity, people in all these communities will want to get that sand onto the beaches to help with nourishment.”
Harrington said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conducts dredging to help with navigation in areas such as the mouth of the Merrimack River. The sand that is dredged, however, can be of great use to coastal communities such as Salisbury, Newbury and Newburyport.
“That sand needs to go someplace and it costs them more to truck it somewhere than it does to place it on a beach that is right there,” he said. “The federal government is fine with putting the sand either onshore or offshore because it saves them money in the end. There are two permanent areas, one on the north side of the beach and one on the south side of the beach.
“The Army Corps of Engineers has obtained permits for those areas and they have figured that it is the best place to put the sand,” he added. “The waves will eventually move the sand from its offshore location and onto the beach over time. The beach will then naturally gain additional sand.”
Staff writer Jim Sullivan covers Amesbury and Salisbury for The Daily News. He can be reached via email at jsullivan@newburyportnews.com or by phone at 978-961-3145. Follow him on Twitter @ndnsully.
