Community Corner

Hope for Dredging Funds in New Senate Bill

Funds to dredge the Petaluma River may become available thanks to a new bill now winding through the U.S. Congress, the Argus Courier is reporting.  

The Water Resources Development Act has already passed the Senate on a 83-14 vote and will soon move into the House of Representatives. If approved, it would increase the U.S. Army of Corps of Engineers budget for river maintenance projects and make it easier for local jurisdictions to access the money, according to the paper.  

“The Petaluma River is a federal channel and if the WRDA bill passes, the Corps should have the budget and the dredging should be taken care of,” Congressman Jared Huffman told the Argus Courier.  

The river needs to be dredged every five years, but the last time the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did so was in 2003, largely due to slashed federal resources and the river’s lower priority compared to other large ports around the country. The lack of maintenance has cause silt to accumulate, making passage for boats difficult.  

Boating enthusiasts, as well as companies that rely on the river to transport goods, worry that if dredging does not happen soon, passage on the river will become more and more difficult, impacting both business and tourism in Petaluma.  

Diana Holmes, a member of the Petaluma Yacht Club, recently told Patch that the lack of dredging is already causing a drop off in visitors, including over the Memorial Day weekend when just 23 boats came into the Turning Basin.

“Usually we have anywhere from 50 to 60 boats here for Memorial weekend…and as the word gets out (and it already has since boats got stock and people canceled), no boats will come to Petaluma,” Holmes said. “Unless the city of Petaluma does something, by next year there will be zero boating visitors coming to Petaluma.”  

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