Friday, October 06, 2006

Emergency Plan to Dredge Bogue Inlet

Bogue Inlet simply has to be dredged. After being left out of the state's Shallow Draft Navigation dredging budget for the second straight year, a new plan is in the works to reapportion money from the NC's other inlets in order to keep Bogue Inlet navigable. In last year's federal budget there were no funds allocated for maintenance dredging of any of the state's shallow draft inlets. However, the Senate budget had allocated $3 million for maintenance dredging of all of the state's five shallow inlets except Bogue Inlet and its connecting channel. "No one really knows why it's been left out of the budget for two years now. My thoughts are that they got confused with the $9.8 million that was funded for moving the Emerald Isle inlet and didn't realize this was the connector channel and a whole different issue," said Greg Rudolph of the Carteret County Shore Protection Office. Bogue Inlet is not only important to fishermen, but also the area economy, we're hopeful that a creative funding solution can be found since legislators seem to have overlooked its importance. More on the dredging plan is available from the Tideland News. An aerial photographic history of NC's inlets is available from the Army Corps of Engineers.

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