About 6,000 tonnes of sand dredge from Cow Creek last year could soon be added to nearby beaches, Sarnia’s construction manager says.
Final provincial approval from the Northern Development, Mines and Natural Resources Ministry could come later this month for the roughly 2,500 cubic meters of sand dredge last summer, said Rob Williams.
There’s already support from Fisheries and Oceans Canada to spread the sand atop the ice so it will eventually dissipate and flow west, he said.
“Then it will accumulate on multiple beaches as it goes.”
The approvals process also involved consultation with area First Nations, he said.
“We’re on the final strokes here, waiting for the paperwork to come through.”
Sand buildup amid high water levels prompted safety concerns and calls for action from the public in 2020, resulting in the two-metre dredging last summer that cleared the sediment-clogged creek, he said.
Water levels have since subsided and there could be further dredging either this March, July or fall, Williams said.
“We’ll be kind of monitoring it as the ice goes away.”
So far, about one-third of the $350,000 approved for the project has been spent, he said.
“We’ll be doing maintenance dredging as required and weather-dependent through 2022,” he said. “Then, we’ll be looking as to whether we need to bring anything to council for 2023.”
It’s hoped annual dredging won’t be required, he said.
Some armor stone has been added to the eastern side of the Cow Creek outlet to raise the grade, and more may be added still, he said.
“I don’t think a lot of the sand right now is coming into the creek from the lake as it originally was,” Williams said. “It’s just moving around within the creek.”