WGMD Fishing Report 9-17-18

On Monday evening I attended the informational hearing on the Massey’s Ditch dredging project held at the Bethany Beach Library.  Folks from DNREC’s Soil and Water Conservation Department gave a good presentation on exactly what is planned, when and how it will be done.

There will be pipes laid from Massey’s Ditch across the marsh to the ocean north of Indian River Inlet to carry the dredge spoils to the beach.  A floating booster pump behind Burton’s Island will keep the dredge spoils moving.  The dredge pipe will go through a culvert under Route 1 and exit by the base of the Indian River Inlet Bridge.

The new channel will be 6.5 feet deep at mean low water and 100 feet wide. 

Bids for this project will go out soon.  The estimated cost will be between 3 and 4.5 million dollars.  The actual cost won’t be known until the bids come back.  The dredging is supposed to begin in January and finish up in March.

This is Eric Burnley with your WGMD fishing report