Attention Boaters: Canal to be Dredged in November

A local contracting company will begin dredging the San Rafael Canal in November thanks to new funds from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of Public Works announced today.

The Corps awarded $1.38 million to San Rafael-based RDA Contracting, Inc. Dredging early November and continue for approximately four weeks from 7a.m. to 7p.m. Corps staff as well as the Department of Public Works will oversee the project.

“With this dredging completed, recreational boaters will be able to navigate the Canal and enjoy our waterway in a way that has not been possible in recent years” Mayor Al Boro said.

Dredging is a process where the bottom sediments in a body of water are gathered up and moved to another location. Dredging for the San Rafael Canal is supposed to happen every five to seven years, Boro said.

Since 1930, the Corps dredged the canal 12 times. The most recent was in 2002. The past 9 years, the waterway has silted and sections of the inner channel are now 2 feet deep at low tide, difficult to navigate and a potential safety hazard, Public Works employee Richard Landis said in a statement.

A community meeting to announce the project will be held at 6p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19 at at 50 Canal St.