Saco City Council has pledged $170,000 in city ARPA funds to help with initial operational costs.

A similar regional system is used in Barnstable, Massachusetts.Įlliott Dredge of Baltimore, Maryland constructed the dredge and will provide training, Roche noted.Ĭommunities who use the dredge will pay to do so, with the proceeds going to cover expenses.

The dredging done by the regional system would be separate from periodic dredges conducted by the U.S. Roche suggested the purchase of a regional dredge at a public hearing the county held in June that year. Several years later, in 2021, SOS Saco Bay began pursuing a York County solution after it learned the county had received a $40 million allotment of ARPA funds. The SMDC study went on to say that a 2017 report by the group Protecting Maine’s Beaches for the Future recognized the need for up to 10,000,000 cubic yards of beach nourishment over the next 20 years, but as with the maintenance of local harbors and rivers, the nourishment projects were hindered by a lack of dredging resources. Furthermore, many of the region’s beaches are vulnerable to loss of sand from increases in sea level, increased frequency and intensity storm events, and seasonal erosion and would benefit from periodic nourishment with sandy sediment dredged from local navigation channels.” “High demand, lack of funds, and limited availability of dredging equipment have caused significant delays, often of years, to many of these much-needed dredging efforts. “Numerous harbors and rivers in the region require routine maintenance dredging to ensure they are navigable by maritime commercial interests, fishermen, and recreational boaters,” the study notes. A feasibility study conducted by the Woods Hole Group for Southern Maine Planning and Development Commission issued in July 2018 found there was sufficient need for dredging and further evaluation. The quest for a regional dredge began several years ago.

The approval was long sought by Save Our Shores Saco Bay and has the support of communities like Saco, Wells, and several others, including Scarborough, in nearby Cumberland County ,and others have expressed interest.

What does working coastal dredge