The state is working to protect a Delaware beach town’s most important resource.
DNREC Secretary Collin O’Mara highlighted a dredging project in South Bowers Beach Monday that’s expected to improve safety and access for those using the Murderkill River at its mouth on the Delaware Bay.
The project is moving about 45,000 cubic yards of material from the river bottom allowing boats to better navigate the waterway. About three-quarters of the material being removed is beach-fill quality sand and will be repurposed to widen the beach at South Bowers.
O’Mara says that Bowers Beach has been dependent on it’s maritime industry and culture for about a century.
“To not have navigable access where commercial watermen couldn’t get out safely really is such a detriment to the local economy and at the same time the environment," said O'Mara. "Making this successful again will allow this community to thrive even more in the next few years, hopefully attract more visitors, have more commercial watermen out here, and hopefully pump a lot of life into the economy."
According to the American Sportfishing Association, the economic value of recreational fishing in Delaware is about $150 million a year while commercial fishing brings in $10 million.
O’Mara adds that the project also provides ecological benefits.
“Having good, clean sand moving on to the South Bowers Beach will actually create additional habitats for horseshoe crabs, other types of crustaceans, as well as shore birds that come through here in different times of year," O'Mara said. "Also clearing out some of the dirtier debris, some of the muck, things like that will help add additional quality to the environment as well.”
An innovative aspect of the project is that it is the first of it's kind on the Delaware Bay to combine a dredging and beach replenishing effort.
"We want to take this model to Washington and convince the folks at the Army Corps of Engineers that this is the model that should be the preferred alternative for all kinds of navigation projects across the country," said O'Mara. "It's cheaper in the end to do projects together than it is to do them individually."
The projected cost of the dredging and beach replenishment is just under $1 million. Funds from the 2013 Bond Bill and DNREC’s Shoreline and Waterway Management Bond Bill appropriation are paying for the work which is slated to be completed by early February.