QUOTE
Corps will study harbor dredging
By Jason Miller, The News-Dispatch
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hopes it can convince President George W. Bush that shallow-water, recreational ports are a valuable commidity so he'll place money for dredging such ports back into his annual budget.
“We've had no funding for shallow drift or recreational harbors the last four or five years,” Wayne Schloop, Chief of Operations for the Detroit Region of the Corps told The News-Dispatch this week. “It's not a Corps decision. It's not part of the president's budget plan.”
Schloop said Tuesday the Corps has commissioned a study to pinpoint the amount of use and its financial effect on shallow harbor communities in order to prove the harbors have worth.
Currently, the federal government supplies money to the Corps only for deep-water harbor dredging at places like the Port of Indiana and the Cal-Sag Harbor.
Funding has been short for the last four or five years, Schloop said.
The lack of funds hasn't stopped the Corps from continuing its shallow-water dredging yet, thanks to Congressional earmarks that have kept the program going.
Relying on Congress's good graces, though, won't always guarantee the work will get done.
“One challenge for the Corps is to realize the economic impact of shallow-draft harbors on their communtities,” Schloop said. “This study is in its final stages and should be a really important document to really give some validity to the economic impact.”
Second District U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly said Saturday he wasn't aware of the study, but added he's been abreast of funding issues for shallow harbor dredging for some time.
He placed a great deal of importance on Michigan City's harbor and said he'd work to make sure the Army Corps either continues to receive funding through Congressional earmarks or through a renewed allocation in the budget.
“I'll try to get a copy of that study this week,” Donnelly told The News-Dispatch. “But I am aware of the issue and I intend to work non-stop to make sure Michigan City doesn't lose that funding.
“I realize how incredibly important (Washington Paek Marina and the city's harbor) are to the economy in our area.”
Michigan City Harbor Master Tim Frame said this week that the Corps dredges the Trail Creek channel every three years. Most recently, the channel was dredged last season.
The year before, the Corps did emergency work at the mouth of the harbor after sand built up making it nearly impossible for the U.S. Coast Guard to maneuver its 47-foot boat onto Lake Michigan.
Frame said a lack of funding to dredge the channel would likely hurt the city's marina.
“If they're scaling back even more, that will certainly change things a bit,” Frame said. “The corps is always short of money, it seems.”
Frame said recent issues at the harbor have been near the channel mouth and have been taken care of by the Army Corps. Anything past that, he said, tends to fall to the city.
Trail Creek itself hasn't been dredged in “six or seven years,” Frame said, but hasn't shown a real need. The port authority looked into paying to dredge the basin - where boats moor in the marina - a few years ago, but let the bids lapse because the cost was too high.
“We looked at the bids and honestly we got a case of sticker shock,” he said. “We let them go because that was just more than we wanted to pay.”
Contact reporter Jason Miller at jmiller@thenewsdispatch.com.
By Jason Miller, The News-Dispatch
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hopes it can convince President George W. Bush that shallow-water, recreational ports are a valuable commidity so he'll place money for dredging such ports back into his annual budget.
“We've had no funding for shallow drift or recreational harbors the last four or five years,” Wayne Schloop, Chief of Operations for the Detroit Region of the Corps told The News-Dispatch this week. “It's not a Corps decision. It's not part of the president's budget plan.”
Schloop said Tuesday the Corps has commissioned a study to pinpoint the amount of use and its financial effect on shallow harbor communities in order to prove the harbors have worth.
Currently, the federal government supplies money to the Corps only for deep-water harbor dredging at places like the Port of Indiana and the Cal-Sag Harbor.
Funding has been short for the last four or five years, Schloop said.
The lack of funds hasn't stopped the Corps from continuing its shallow-water dredging yet, thanks to Congressional earmarks that have kept the program going.
Relying on Congress's good graces, though, won't always guarantee the work will get done.
“One challenge for the Corps is to realize the economic impact of shallow-draft harbors on their communtities,” Schloop said. “This study is in its final stages and should be a really important document to really give some validity to the economic impact.”
Second District U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly said Saturday he wasn't aware of the study, but added he's been abreast of funding issues for shallow harbor dredging for some time.
He placed a great deal of importance on Michigan City's harbor and said he'd work to make sure the Army Corps either continues to receive funding through Congressional earmarks or through a renewed allocation in the budget.
“I'll try to get a copy of that study this week,” Donnelly told The News-Dispatch. “But I am aware of the issue and I intend to work non-stop to make sure Michigan City doesn't lose that funding.
“I realize how incredibly important (Washington Paek Marina and the city's harbor) are to the economy in our area.”
Michigan City Harbor Master Tim Frame said this week that the Corps dredges the Trail Creek channel every three years. Most recently, the channel was dredged last season.
The year before, the Corps did emergency work at the mouth of the harbor after sand built up making it nearly impossible for the U.S. Coast Guard to maneuver its 47-foot boat onto Lake Michigan.
Frame said a lack of funding to dredge the channel would likely hurt the city's marina.
“If they're scaling back even more, that will certainly change things a bit,” Frame said. “The corps is always short of money, it seems.”
Frame said recent issues at the harbor have been near the channel mouth and have been taken care of by the Army Corps. Anything past that, he said, tends to fall to the city.
Trail Creek itself hasn't been dredged in “six or seven years,” Frame said, but hasn't shown a real need. The port authority looked into paying to dredge the basin - where boats moor in the marina - a few years ago, but let the bids lapse because the cost was too high.
“We looked at the bids and honestly we got a case of sticker shock,” he said. “We let them go because that was just more than we wanted to pay.”
Contact reporter Jason Miller at jmiller@thenewsdispatch.com.