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Small Boat Harbors Project Receives Vital Funding for Dredging

By James Finn and Samantha HeiligDecember 30, 2024

Additional Dredging Effort
1 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Additional funding has been allocated for dredging efforts at Andalusia Harbor ($750,000), Moline Harbor ($1.5 million), Quincy Bay ($2 million), Quincy Harbor ($1.5 million), and Fort Madison Harbor ($1.5 million). Dredging is anticipated to be completed on the remaining funded harbors in the spring/early summer of 2025. (Photo Credit: James Finn) VIEW ORIGINAL
Dredging in the Sunset Marina
2 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Dredging for the Sunset Marina, in Rock Island, Illinois. (Photo Credit: James Finn) VIEW ORIGINAL
Bucket loader dredging the Sunset Marina
3 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Sunset Marina, in Rock Island, Illinois is dredged by the USACE (Photo Credit: James Finn) VIEW ORIGINAL
Dredging to make way for small boats
4 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Members of the US Army Corps of Engineers dredge a small boat harbor at the Sunset Marina in Rock Island, Illinois (Photo Credit: James Finn) VIEW ORIGINAL

In a significant boost for recreational boating and local economies, several small boat harbors along the Mississippi River are set to undergo essential maintenance dredging. Thanks to some newly appropriated federal funding. This comes after a prolonged period of stagnation, with federal support for small harbor dredging absent since 2010. Prior to the lapse in funding, these harbors historically were being dredged every two to five years.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District, completed dredging for the Davenport, Iowa Small Boat Harbor earlier this year, and just recently finished up $1 million in dredging work at Sunset Marina, in Rock Island, Illinois.

Under the River and Harbor Acts of 1946 through 1962, numerous small boat harbors were authorized for construction and maintenance as part of the Mississippi River 9-foot Navigation Project. These harbors were specifically designed to accommodate shallow draft recreational vessels with depths ranging from five to nine feet. Currently, twelve small boat harbors remain fully operational in the USACE Rock Island District.

These dredging projects require precise coordination with local municipalities. Those local entities serve as sponsors for these projects and are responsible for providing space for the placement of dredged material, sometimes a more difficult task than it appears.

“The dredging activities are not just essential for recreational boating; they also play a crucial role in supporting local economies dependent on fishing, tourism, and other water-related activities,” said Dan Guise, Small Boat Harbor Program Manager with the Rock Island District. “The renewed funding signals a positive turn for local harbors and highlights the ongoing partnership between the federal government and local municipalities to ensure safe and accessible waterways for all.”

Thus far, the District has seen success in dredging the first two harbors and looks forward to completing the other five harbors in 2025. Long term, the District is hopeful that federal funding will remain in place to return these small boat harbors to a predictable cycle of dredging as they were before the 2010 lapse in funding.”