Dredging is about to get underway for a local river channel, but once that’s done, there will be no more money in the pot.
That’s according to a staff information memo to Delta council which notes Fraser River Pile & Dredge, the contractor for the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, has received the necessary federal and provincial authorizations to undertake maintenance dredging in the Sea Reach channel.
It’s the continuation of a program initiated back in 2013, a $10 million partnership among Delta, the City of Richmond, the port authority and provincial government, to dredge channels around Ladner and Steveston.
That project was successful in removing 400,000 cubic metres of sediment that was impeding navigation and access through the three most heavily used channels around Ladner. Of the original funding, approximately $1.5 million remained for the channels in Delta.
The latest dredging is scheduled to begin this month and take approximately 20 days.
Sediment will be removed by a cutter suction dredge from the entrance to Sea Reach and piped to an in-river disposal site at the main arm of the Fraser River.
“This section of Sea Reach channel and the entrance to Ladner Harbour have both experienced considerable sediment accumulation since the initial dredging work was undertaken in 2013, and have been identified by VFPA as priority locations for additional dredging. Authorizations for work in Ladner Harbour are still pending, however, it is expected that this work will be completed before February 2021,” the memo explains.
Funding will come from the original $10 million program, which will be fully depleted with the completion of the latest project, the memo adds.
Meanwhile, work continues with local stakeholders to lobby senior governments for an ongoing maintenance program.
A letter by Mayor George Harvie to Fisheries and Oceans Minister Bernadette Jordan late last year noted that years after the initial dredging program, “We are almost back to square one with many of the local channels once again in critical need of dredging to ensure safe navigation.”
Harvie noted it’s estimated annual funding of $1.8 million would be required to establish a maintenance dredging program for the most heavily used secondary channels of the lower Fraser River.
The city has held meetings that included government, industry, community and other user groups, including the Ladner Sediment Group, to find a solution.
A Delta report last year stated, “The issue may be better addressed through a broader collaborative effort since senior governments may be more likely to support a dredging program which provides long-term benefits for businesses and community groups on a wider regional scale. Both the federal and provincial governments have indicated their support for a local channel dredging program; however, the challenge has been to get them to commit to funding.”
