FENWICK ISLAND, DE - With the long-awaited dredging project of the Little Assawoman Bay beginning on Monday, October 14th, WBOC spoke with neighbors who said they are excited to see the project beginning. Town officials said the project has been in the works for almost a decade.
According to project leaders, the work will be broken into two phases. The first phase will dredge what has been titled the "North Channel". Officials said they expect this work to run from the 14th to November 1st.
The second phase will see crews shifting South to work on the "South Channel", which is expected to run from November 1st through November 12th, according to town leaders.
A diagram showing both work areas can be found on the town's Facebook page.
According to town officials, the work of Representative Ron Gray, Senator Gerald Hocker, and the Sussex County Council helped the project come to fruition by securing the proper funding.
Town leaders said this project is important for boater safety, and the sediment build-up in the area has greatly reduced its navigability.
The neighbors WBOC spoke with on Friday agreed. One neighbor who lives on the water, Carol McCloud, said she's seen first-hand how the shallow water has affected boaters.
"It's been more and more prevalent, and this year, a lot of boats are running into the ground," McCloud said. "They don't realize how shallow it is, and it's like 'uh oh there goes another one'."
McCloud's neighbor, Richard Robinson, said the project is long overdue.
"I'm glad to see they got through the maze that was required to achieve this project," Robinson said.
Robinson, a long-time resident, said he's excited to see the waters return closer to how they were when he first moved in.
"You could throw a line off the edge here and catch some fish," Robinson said. "Not big fish, but the kids could do it. That diminished quite a bit as the water got shallower."
Town officials said that the dredging work will run from 7 am to 7 pm Monday through Friday for the duration of the project. Those officials ask that boaters be mindful of the work when traversing the area.
