Boating at Kalbarri is safer following the completion of biennial maintenance dredging campaign to widen the channel and restore safe navigational depths at the mouth of Murchison River.
An added bonus of the work was the deepening of water around a jetty used for swimming and recreation, approved by Marine Rescue Kalbarri because the water is now deep enough for them to tie up there for aquatic events.
The project involved dredging of approximately 84,000 cubic meters of material – nearly double the expected – over a four-month period, resulting in the restoration of safe navigational depths, allowing better access to the river for commercial and leisure vessels.
In 2022 DoT fast tracked the dredging campaign and extracted a record 95,000 cubic meters of material after a severe winter combined with the impacts of Cyclone Seroja resulted in concerning levels of infilling, making navigation dangerous.