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Earlier this week, Georgetown County S.C. announced that $6.5 million in federal funds have been secured for inner harbor dredging.
The funds will allow the harbor in Georgetown to be deepened for the first time since the Army Corps of Engineers announced in 2008 that it would no longer dredge that channel.
Since that time, major silting has occurred, leaving some areas of the harbor with no more than 3 feet of depth at low tide.
Georgetown County and the City of Georgetown have been working together for several years to find funds for dredging and look for long term solution to the silting problem.
In 2018, they engaged Coastal Carolina University to complete a feasibility study to identify potential engineering solutions to prevent silting from occurring in the future, or at least from occurring at such a fast rate.
The university issued a report in 2019 that identified 13 potential solutions and recommended an engineering firm be engaged to give further study to the four most feasible recommendations. GEL Engineering was engaged in late 2021. Findings were presented the following year.
Among its findings, GEL said initial dredging of the inner harbor would be required under any scenario to maintain present uses.
Dredging of the east and west channels was estimated last year to cost a total of $5.2 million. The county still has to obtain state and federal dredge permits.