The renovated Garrisons Lake boat ramp is officially open.
DNREC reopened the ramp at Garrisons Lake near Smyrna with a ribbon cutting ceremony Wednesday.
The lake’s newly renovated concrete boat ramp can easily accommodate vessels from hand-launched jon boats to trailered bass boats up to 20 feet long, and has a courtesy dock.
Garrisons Lake is one of the state’s five most-fished ponds, and among Delaware’s top 10 most popular ponds and lakes for largemouth bass tournaments, attracting both local and out-of-state fishing clubs.
DNREC’s John Clark says it was time for the renovation.
"It had been decades since we had replaced the ramp at Garrisons and it was showing its age," said Clark. "The parking lot there by the ramp - it's an odd configuration and we were limited based on the property we have there - but we were able to do a little bit of expanding there to make it a little easy to maneuver for people trailering boats in and out of there."
The project cost $353,700, and it was funded by federal Sport Fish Restoration grants administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service -- combined with matching funds from Delaware recreational fishing license fees.
Clark says it’s always important to make sure the state’s ponds are as up-to-date as possible.
"We're all about trying to provide as much access to the water as possible for our fishing public," said Clark. "So anytime we pick some of these grants up we go ahead and do it, and we've got a lot more projects in the pipeline coming up too."
The next big project on the horizon is rebuilding the 7th Street boat ramp on the Christina River in Wilmington.
