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Ocean Shores staff outlines plan to seek permits and budget for dredging short finger canals
Summary
City staff told the Waterways Advisory Board that small finger canals off Duck Lake Drive have accumulated organic sediment causing anaerobic conditions, and that Ecology and Fish and Wildlife may allow a three-year HPA permitting limited dredging; staff will prepare permit and budget proposals for board review.
Ocean Shores staff described a preliminary plan to pursue permits and a budget to dredge several short finger canals that have filled with leaves, sediment and debris and now limit boating access.
Marshall, speaking to the Waterways Advisory Board, said the canals at the south end of Duck Lake Drive and nearby courts are stormwater discharge points that have lost flushing velocity and now accumulate organic material that creates foul sulfide odors. "When those leaves are rotten on the bottom, it turns into actually an anorobic condition in there," Marshall said, explaining why residents have reported a sewage-like smell even when there is no sanitary leak.
Marshall told the board he has discussed options with the Department of Ecology and the Department of Fish and Wildlife and said Wildlife staff indicated they could issue a three-year HPA to allow dredging of existing channels, provided the work restores former conditions rather than expands channels. He said the city will need to assemble a permit package and a budget and return to the board for direction. "I'm going to kind of work out what it would take to get us through that from a permitting standpoint, and then you guys can talk about with council or administration on budgeting so that, you know, we can put together a permit package and a budget that will get those things cleaned out," he said.
Board members pressed on technical details and equipment. Marshall said the most likely approach is a hydraulic dredge, either barge-mounted or shore-mounted with a hose, rather than simply using a vacuum truck. He described how vacuum systems require an air–water slurry to avoid collapse of soft sediments and suggested the city will likely pump material to a sedimentation tank or dewater it at an approved disposal site before returning decanted water to the lake: "...pump up into that, let the water separate from the solids, bring the water back into the lake...and then take the solids either to the wastewater plant or down to the yard and let that...dewater," he said.
Members discussed scope and timing. Several said the short canals (about four or five lots long, generally under 300 feet) could be candidates for phased work and a recurring maintenance cycle; Marshall suggested a possible five-year maintenance plan but said dredging likely will not occur this year. He also agreed to include a few additional sites (north Grand Canal and park-area reaches) in Ecology and Fish and Wildlife conversations.
The board heard a reminder from an online participant about sediment characterization and disposal rules: sediment destined for removal must be characterized under state hazardous-sediment rules and disposal sites approved under the Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA). Marshall acknowledged the need to factor those requirements into the permit and disposal plan.
Next steps: Marshall will refine equipment choices, prepare estimates, confirm permitting requirements (including any fish-exclusion or seasonal constraints), and produce a permit and budget package for the board and council to consider. The board did not vote on funding or authorize work at this meeting.
