Posted on June 16, 2021
Port Huron City Manager James Freed said he is aware boaters are unhappy with the current condition of the Black River Canal and further dredging is slated for this week.
Freed said the city had to acquire a permit from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy and notify a contractor to get the work rolling.
A build up of sand is currently making the canal too narrow and shallow for most pontoon boats to be able to safely pass through, he said.
Work to dredge the canal is expected to begin today, June 15. While the work is performed, the canal will be closed between the tainter gate and Lake Huron.
The canal is dredged as-needed to both help ensure boater’s safety and to promote the area as a boating community.
Sand from the canal will be placed in Lake Huron from the north side of Lakeside Beach to the south.
Contractors will be utilizing Gratiot Avenue to Edison Boulevard and Conger Street to Holland Avenue. Travelers can expect intermittent slowed and stopped traffic in these areas. The public is also encouraged not to park on these streets.
Work is expected to be completed by the weekend.
Residents voice concerns over canal
Some people in the community feel that the canal needs to be dredged wider and deeper, Freed said, but the permit only allows it to be dredged to specific measurements.
Larry Watkins, a Riverside Drive resident and boater, said he went through the canal and into Lake Huron on his 22-foot boat in late May. He said the mouth of the canal into Lake Huron was narrow and shallow, and the swift current pushed him back into the canal, making it to difficult to get through.
While he did make it into the lake, he said traveling both directions is dangerous. If traveling from Lake Huron into the canal, he said the swift current could cause boaters to lose control and crash.
“(It’s) too narrow, too shallow and the current is too fast,” he said.
Watkins said while he went on a Friday afternoon when there was little traffic, the mouth of the canal was so narrow that boats couldn’t pass each other.
While some want the canal to be wider, the state permit keeps it to 20 feet.
“Twenty feet’s not that wide, especially when working a pontoon,” Freed said. “I get people’s concerns but that’s the canal bed.”
No long-term solutions
The canal was first dredged this year in late April, but within a few days the canal was blocked by sand, Freed said. While working under the same permit, the contractor dredged the canal again.
“Some summers you dredge it once and you’re fine,” he said, adding other years take multiple contracts.
In the past, experts from around the country, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, have been called in to look for a more permanent solution, which is usually offered as a breakwall. But that would only provide relief for a few years before the river would need to be dredged again and would cost more, Freed said.
“There is no long-term silver bullet to keep us from having to dredge again,” Freed said.
So far the city has spent about $42,500 on dredging, with this week’s work costing an additional $20,000, which comes from the city’s general fund.
Contact Brian Wells at (810) 357-8668 or bwells@gannett.com. Contact Laura Fitzgerald at (810) 941-7072 or lftizgeral@gannett.com.
