Sept. 25, 2008 – Hydraulic dredging resumed in the Assawoman Canal Sept. 22 and will continue through January 2009 or until the project is completed. 

Dec. 31, 2007 - Dredging has temporarily shut down in observance of fishery habitat time-of-year restrictions (January 1 - August 31). During the 2007 dredging season approximately 2,500 feet of hydraulic dredging advance was made. Also this year, rip-rap (adjacent photo) was put in place to stabilize the shoreline along the canal across from its confluence with the Bethany Loop Canal. Approximately two thirds of canal's dredging has been completed. With about a mile of canal left to go, the dredging project is on track for completion by end of 2008. 

Nov. 8, 2007 - The Sussex Conservation District, under contract to the state, will be installing rip-rap along a section of canal bank across from the Bethany Loop Canal. This rip-rap is meant to help reduce the undermining and erosion occurring along the canal due to the currents flowing through the Bethany Loop Canal. Preparation for this work has already begun and the rip-rap should be in place before the end of this year. The “Seidel” continues to make progress in the southern portion of the canal, having now advanced approximately 1,000 feet up it. A booster pump has been added to the hydraulic dredging equipment to keep material running smoothly through the pipeline from the dredge to the disposal site, which is located on a section of the Assawoman Wildlife Management Area.

Oct. 15, 2007 - Hydraulic dredging resumed in the Assawoman Canal in early September and is expected to continue through year's end. Seasonal fisheries restrictions allow dredging to occur within the Inland Bays only from September 1-December 31. Any work not completed by the end of this dredging season will resume in the fall of 2008.  If additional funding is made available before the end of this dredging season, mechanical dredging operations in the northern section of the canal may resume this year. To date, the “Seidel”, a New Castle County-owned dredge, has made an advance of 700 feet this year within the canal since starting September 11.

Dec. 27, 2006 - Hydraulic dredging began in the canal during the week of December 18th and will continue through December 29th.  The Sussex Conservation District is handling the job for the Division using an excavator with a 60-foot boom working from both banks of the Canal.  Excavated material is being truck-hauled to an upland confined disposal facility located in the Fresh Pond State Park.  The Division’s dredge crew is moving pipeline into the southern portion of the waterway and positioning one of the state’s newest hydraulic dredges, the “Indian River,” to begin this part of the project. Material will be pumped via pipeline to a second upland disposal facility located on property owned by the Division of Fish and Wildlife.  

Nov. 30, 2006 - The mechanical dredging portion of the project is going smoothly and is on track to have the northern section of the canal (from White Creek to the Route 26 bridge) near completion by the end of the year. Hydraulic dredging will extend from the Route 26 Bridge south to the Little Assawoman Bay.

Oct. 3, 2006 – The mechanical dredging portion of the dredging project began on this day. Work began just north of the Route 26 Bridge and will continue in a northerly direction toward the north end of the canal at White Creek.

Aug. 30, 2006 – Site clearing along the banks of the canal between its north end at White Creek and the Route 26 Bridge in Bethany Beach/Ocean View was initiated to facilitate the mechanical dredging portion of the project.