After more than 20 years, funding is finally coming together to dredge the Mamquam Blind Channel, leaving only crucial Fisheries requirements to be addressed in order to clear the waterway for recreational boaters.
On Sept. 14 seven stakeholders convened during a roundtable discussion organized by MP Blair Wilson to discuss funding the dredging.Representatives from JJM Construction, Westmana Development Corporation, Squamish Harbour Association, District of Squamish, Small Craft Harbours and Canadian Coast Guard met to come up with a solution to the project, which is crucial to recreational and commercial vessels.
Together, the stakeholders estimated the cost at around $1 million. About 100,000 cubic feet of material would need to be removed to create a navigable depth of 4.5 meters. Now that the channel has become a safety hazard for boaters, District council passed a resolution during a meeting Tuesday (Sept. 25) encouraging stakeholders and different levels of government to create a collaborative plan for 2008.
If stakeholders stick to the formula proposed during the roundtable, Westmana would cover half the cost by purchasing the dredged material. The remaining $500,000 bill would be covered by the Peninsula Landowners Collaborative and possibly a one-time contribution from the federal government.
Westmana president Rene David said he supported the dredging project but found the million-dollar price tag too steep. He noted that if more contractors had been involved in the round-table discussion, a better estimate might have been reached.
"I was surprised to see hat there was only one contractor in that room, there should be a tendering process," he said.
Significant dredging to the channel last occurred in 1985. Since then, a build up of silt has made it impassable outside of high tide. Mayor Ian Sutherland said now the greatest hurdle is the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), which is focused on fish habitat and salmon migration.
"Basically you're moving the whole substrate of the riverbed," said David Loop, fishery officer for DFO, adding, "There is a tremendous amount of silt disturbance, which gets into fish valves and can cause them to suffocate."
To avoid some of these problems, DFO could only approve the dredging from Jan. 1 to March 1 or from Sept. 15 to Oct. 1.If the district uses environmental consulting in their planning process, this latest proposal will likely be approved, said DFO habitat biologist Brian Naito. He noted that DFO has granted dredging approvals in the past for the site in 1994, 1996 and 2004. Naito said these projects appeared to have fallen through for other reasons but Sutherland said no dredging permit was issued in 2004.
With the challenges ahead, Wilson said he is eager to see a scoping document from the Canadian Coast Guard so a proposal can be put forward to DFO.
Wilson has asked Wayne Dutchak and Kevin Carrigan of the Canadian Coast Guard to prepare a scoping document with more details about estimated costs. By enlisting experts, Wilson hopes the project will hit fewer snags along the way.
"This is the way I like to do business. If you get everybody at the table to buy in to what we're trying to accomplish and you get input from people at an early stage, then it is more difficult for them to say no down the line," he explained."Everybody realizes that our window of opportunity is fast approaching," he said.
Wilson said he's also hoping to cut down on costs by asking the province to remove a dredging tax that adds on about one dollar to every cubic foot removed. While there have been many efforts to clear the channel over the past 20 years, financial or environmental reasons have always put a halt to plans.
