The completion of phase II of New York state’s $15 million dredging project was announced by Governor Kathy Hochul. She stated that residents and tourists can now benefit from enhanced access to critical waterways of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. With the completion of dredging, recreational boating can be promoted in these water bodies to help boost the local economy.
The communities along Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River have had a hard time in the past few years dealing with the floodwaters and the dredging operations carried out as part of the project, which was meant to alleviate the hardships of these communities. The recently completed dredging project is part of the state’s $300 million Resiliency and Economic Development Initiative (REDI) aimed at repairing and building resilience in communities recovering from damages caused by flooding.
Dredging removed the sediment deposit from the water bodies to allow safe passage and harbour of vessels. With the completion of the second phase of this project, maintenance dredging of 20 navigation channels have been tackled.
The harbours included in the dredging project support 1350 local jobs and generate around $94 million in terms of economic benefits. The REDI Regional Dredging Project was managed by teams from multiple agencies, along with state headed departments and the US Army Corps of engineers.
Phase III of this project is anticipated to take place in 2022 and the counties are tasked with maintenance and up-gradation of the navigation channels under their jurisdiction.
Niagara County Legislature Administration emphasized the importance of maintenance and dredging projects to keep the waterways safe and thereby attract sport fishermen and boaters both locally and internationally. Regional senators said that the state’s initiative to reinforce the region’s economic infrastructure to ensure steady support to its economic recovery after the high-water troubles are appreciated. With the completion of phase II of the regional dredging project, the protection of harbours and the safety of navigation channels leading to them is ensured thereby adding to the overall prosperity of shoreline communities. That the waterways are the region’s most important assets and added that the completion of dredging projects can now open wider possibilities for the communities on shores to benefit from.
