Dredging of the Assawoman Canal is underway

The Assawoman Canal dredging project is well underway – the first-step in the development of the adjacent parkland along the banks of the canal. The project has been designed – and being implemented – in a manner consistent with DNREC’s future recreation and preservation plans for the park area along the banks of the waterway.

In 1990, DNREC’s Division of Parks and Recreation obtained a deed for the Assawoman Canal and adjacent lands – a total of about 98 acres – from the National Park Service through the Federal Surplus Property Program.

The Canal dredging project involves both mechanical and hydraulic dredging methods from the northern end of the waterway at its confluence with White Creek, to the southern end of the waterway at Little Assawoman Bay. The channel will be dredged to a width of 35 feet and a depth of 3.0 feet below mean low water (MLW). An estimated 34,000 cubic yards of material will be removed from the Canal as part of the project.