Dredging must wait until the end of summer

Q: Why does the Coos Bay channel dredging schedule always seem to coincide with the return of fall Chinook and coho? It seems illogical that the bulk of the dredging is done in the fall when endangered coho, Chinook salmon and steelhead make there return into the bay. It stirs up silt, irritating fish respiration and destroys natural weed beds at a crucial point in the fish’s life cycle. The spoils are dumped at sea in areas fish must travel through to reach their final destination. It also creates an undue hazard for boaters and fisherman.

A: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredges the Coos Bay channel at the end of summer so it can remove as much infill as possible before the winter storm season begins.

John Craig, the local Army Corps project manager, said his agency has obtained all the necessary environmental documents from state and federal agencies. He also said the agency coordinates with other channel users to limit disruptions to fishing and recreation. And the areas that are dredged are the same year in and year out.

“It’s maintenance dredging, not new work,” Craig said. “It’s a big difference.”

The Army Corps is limited in when it can do the work. Rough seas keep barges from dredging during the winter.

“It’s got to be during summer,” Craig said.

Winters also can be rough on the channel. If enough sediment builds up, it could create shoals that would force the closure of the bar, Craig said.

So the Army Corps waits as late as possible into the summer to make sure it gets as much material out of the channel as possible. This year, work began Aug. 22 and is scheduled to continue through the beginning of next week.

“If we dredged in June, we could get infill later in the summer,” Craig said. “Doing it now, we leave the channel in much better shape so she holds a lot longer.”