Fenwick Island, Del.- A dredging project in Fenwick Island has been in the works since for the past three to five years.
The project has made some progress recent weeks, as it gains more and more support from the local and state governments. The main focus of the project is the Little Assawoman Bay in Fenwick Island, as the dredging has been wanted by the community and town council members for about ten years. One of the big reasons for this want is so there can be safer boat travel around the bay.
Local business owners who work on the water say that the change is needed.
Mark Jurist is the manager at the Shark's Cove Marina in Fenwick Island, and he says that he has to tell customers where to avoid, and that there is massive sandbars in the water. He also says that recent changes in the water have proven to be a problem for boaters.
“We’ve had a lot of low tides, very low tides," he said. "And with that being said, we see a lot more groundings with boats over here so it definitely needs to be dredged.”
Town officials want to put the debris from the dredging on nearby Seal Island, but there is more approval needed, as the island is owned by Delaware State Parks.
The price tag for all of this is estimated to be 1.5 to 1.7 million dollars, and the hopeful finishing date for the project is in the Fall of 2023.