Orleans, Niagara lead effort for southshore dredging plan at 19 harbors

Photo by Tom Rivers: Dean Marine & Excavating Inc. from Michigan dredges the Oak Orchard Harbor on Aug. 26, 2021. The dredging barge is near the breakwall at the end of the Oak Orchard channel. The harbor last was dredged in August 2014, when it was done for the first time in 10 years.

ALBION – Orleans and Niagara officials are teaming to lead a regional dredging effort for southshore harbors at six counties.

The Lake Ontario Regional Dredging and Maintenance Council was officially formed in 2019 under a memorandum of understanding between the six contiguous counties of Niagara, Orleans, Monroe, Wayne, Cayuga and Oswego.

Orleans County is lead agency for the council with Lynne Johnson as the council’s chairman and Niagara County Legislator David Godfrey as its vice chairman.

The 19 harbors were last dredged in 2021 through $15 million from the state’s Resiliency and Economic Development Initiative (REDI). The state made $300 million available through REDI in response to historic lake flooding and erosion from 2017 and 2019.

Johnson, the Orleans Legislature leader, said there needs to be a plan for the future to make sure the harbors are routinely dredged.

The Orleans and Niagara officials say boating activities and fishing generate about $100 million annually at the southshore harbors.

“The failure to keep our harbors dredged and open means that boats cannot access our communities and that has a very negative financial impact,” Johnson and Godfrey said in a statement.

The council is trying to secure federal funding to help with regular dredging of the 19 harbors in the six counties. The council’s plan also has the six counties sharing resources to contribute to the effort.

“The dredging needs for our Lake Ontario harbor access channels, even those under the responsibility of the US Army Corps of Engineers, are not being met due to federal budget constraints, lack of responsibility by other levels of government, and the limitations of sporadic privately funded dredging,” Johnson said. “Our only choice is to do it ourselves.”

The plan proposes annual funding shares from the six member counties at $163,919. It would be $245,923 with a capital cost included.

The plan pro-rates the shares from each county based on a proportional share of dredge volume in one option or a proportional share of sales tax generated in another option.

Orleans would pay a low of $12,360 annually in one option (sales tax generation without capital cost) to a high of $23,655 (based on dredge volume with capital cost).

The report includes total spending in the counties through boating activities: $7,087,101 in Orleans, $10,500,954 in Niagara, $30,930,870 in Monroe, $18,416,854 in Wayne, $6,611,742 in Cayuga and $20,443,860 in Oswego.

The plan sets time frames for when each of the 19 harbors should be dredged. The Oak Orchard Harbor in Orleans should be dredged every five years with 15,000 cubic yards removed, according to the plan.

The dredging needs for other nearby harbors includes: the channel in Wilson should be dredged every 5 years with 15,000 cubic yards removed; Olcott Harbor very five years with 15,000 cubic yards removed, and Sandy Creek in Hamlin every five years with 1,200 cubic yards removed.

Johnson and Godfrey presented a dredging plan for the harbors last week to the Great Lakes Dredging Team. They also have been working with Congressman Joe Morelle’s office to obtain funding to remove sediment form the harbors.

“Our small harbors serving recreational boating and fishing generate approximately $94 million annually in economic activity, support over 1,350 jobs, and provide sales tax revenues of approximately $7.6 million annually for the local counties and New York State” Godfrey said.  “These same small harbors also provide safe harbors-of-refuge for vessels on Lake Ontario and can only provide these important benefits if adequate water depths are maintained in their access channels by regular, periodic dredging of accumulated sediments.”