Dec 10, 2009 2 min read dredging

Weiner Requests $35M For Area Water Projects

Weiner is requesting money to implement long term solutions to Plumb Beach erosion

United States Congressman Anthony Weiner requested $35,000,000 for waterfront and marina maintenance projects in the Sheepshead Bay and Plumb Beach area, including dredging of the bay and long term erosion defense.

Weiner is asking that the requests be included as part of the 2010 Water Resource Development Act, which federal legislators began piecing together in August. WRDA a is biennial comprehensive water resources law that authorizes studies and projects within the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers mission areas, including navigation, flood damage reduction, hurricane and storm damage reduction, shoreline protection, and environmental restoration.

The bulk of the funds Weiner requested for the area are for a ferry navigation study and dredging. He has asked for $30,000,000 to dredge additional navigation channels in Sheepshead Bay and Jamaica Bay, for ferry access. The sand and sediment raised in the dredging will be used to stabilize Roxbury Beach.

The request comes after a ferry proposal for Sheepshead Bay was shot down over the summer because – in part – the waters are to shallow. Captains of fishing and cruise boats in Sheepshead Bay say the mouth of the marina has filled with sand swept in by tides. They say it bottoms out at around four feet during low tide and poses a risk to their businesses.

In the wake of the destruction at Plumb Beach, which now threatens flooding of the Belt Parkway, Weiner has also requested $5,000,000 to construct a project to stabilize Plumb Beach and provide a long term solution to beach erosion. Several people involved in the planning suggest the Army Corps of Engineers will be contracted to build artificial jetties and sandbars that will break the tide’s power and redirect sediment flow in the area.

Aside from the $35,000,000, Weiner has put in requests for more than $525,000,000 for other projects in the 9th Congressional District. Those projects include rehabilitation of the beaches and seawall at Rockaway Beach, restoration of aquatic habitat at Spring Creek, and a massive effort to enhance water quality and restore tidal marshes at eight sites surrounding Jamaica Bay.

You can read details of Weiner’s requests here.