This should have been done years ago, long overdue. btw, I remember swimming at Stewart Park - damn I'm old.
City of Ithaca seeks destination for sediment
Cayuga Lake's tributaries to be dredged by 2010
By Krisy Gashler • Staff Writer • December 3, 2008
Cass Park, Stewart Park and Newman golf course are among the locations being considered to hold the sediment that could be dredged from Cayuga Lake's tributaries by 2010.
Where to place the dredged sediment, or spoils, is the “biggest and most difficult decision” in the project, Lisa Nicholas, senior planner, said by e-mail. It's also the primary issue that has delayed dredging in the tributaries for the last 26 years, said Jeff Cleveland, owner of Johnson Boat Yard.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recommends dredging every 10 years.
New York state recommends that Cayuga Inlet be kept about 12 feet deep to remain navigable.
Cleveland said it's probably closer to 6-8 feet in the center of the inlet.
“The biggest problem ... is Cascadilla Creek. As you go further up the creek it's 3-4 feet,” he said. “People are damaging propellers.”
The project to dredge the lower reaches of some or all of Cayuga Lake's tributaries — Cayuga Inlet, the flood control channel, Fall Creek, Cascadilla Creek and Six Mile Creek — has been estimated to cost a total of $8-10 million. The City of Ithaca has already appropriated more than $150,000 toward planning for the project, and New York state has pledged more than $2 million so far.
Nicholas said she expects the regulatory agencies, especially the Canal Corporation, will fund “some or most” of the actual dredging cost, but the city will likely have to pay for some of it.
Elizabeth Moran, the city's environmental consultant and president of EcoLogic, LLC, said the primary purpose behind the dredging project is improving navigation for boats along the waterways, though there may be a small benefit toward reducing flooding.
“The main purpose is for improvement to navigation,” Moran said. “Removing the accumulated sediment will help the capacity of the channels as well, so it may give some slight benefit in terms of reduction in flooding risk, but actually flooding is more controlled by the level of Cayuga Lake itself in the Ithaca area because it's so flat.”
The city has been planning for the dredging project for several years and is currently evaluating sediment, measuring channel depth and studying aquatic habitats in order to assess how much sediment must be removed from Cayuga Lake's tributaries and where it can safely be placed, Nicholas said.
There is still 18 months to two years' worth of planning and design to accomplish before actual dredging could begin, likely in 2010, Nicholas said.
Emphasizing that the city has not decided on any particular location or locations to de-water the spoils, Nicholas said the city needs 15-20 acres of space owned by the city, within a mile of the dredging location, primarily vacant and not up-gradient from where the spoils were removed.
“As you can imagine, we have very few sites that fit this description,” she said. “We may have to have more than one site. All or portions of Cass, Stewart and Newman do fit that description, but again no decision has been made.”
Cass Park is 137.7 acres, Newman is 65, and Stewart is 39, said Rick Ferrel, assistant superintendent of public works for streets and facilities.
Contrary to a rumor circulating around Newman, Nicholas said the city “is not considering permanently closing any area that might be used as a dredge spoils dewatering site — particularly not the golf course.”
Aside from space, another potential issue is smell.
Nicholas said the city will undertake a complete environmental review of the dredging project, including any potential impact related to bad smells from de-watering spoils.
Moran said she doesn't anticipate this to be a big problem, as foul smells are related to how much organic material is in the spoils.
“The sediments that are deposited in the Inlet are pretty much clay and silt particles. They're not as heavily organic,” she said.
An entirely different option could be to use the dredge spoils to create an artificial wetland off the edge of Stewart Park, Moran said.
“Almost think of it as an artificial island, extending the Stewart park shoreline out,” she said.
It's not an unheard-of idea — much of Ithaca's waterfront was created with dredging spoils, including all or parts of Cass, Stewart, Newman and Allan H. Treman State Marine Park.
“It could be used for habitat creation,” Moran said. “Potentially it could alter the circulation pattern in the southern basin in a way that helps reduce some of the turbidity plumes that affect right off shore of Stewart Park.”
Excessive turbidity or sediment is one of the primary reasons the Stewart Park swimming beach was closed in the 1960s, but Moran said citizens shouldn't count on a constructed wetland to bring back swimming to Stewart.
“I wouldn't ever go so far as to promise that there could be swimming at Stewart Park,” she said.
Dredging projects are overseen by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, which requires that municipalities test dredging sediment for a variety of potential contaminants, Moran said.
Moran said she had just completed a project to collect sediment samples, and test results will likely be available by the end of the year.
For more information, visit
www.ecologicllc.com/ithacadredging.html.
kgashler@gannett.com
Inlet Island, center, stands between the Cayuga Inlet, left, and the Flood Control Channel, right, in this May 2008 view looking south toward Lowe's and Wal-Mart. The City of Ithaca is making plans to dredge all the tributaries of Cayuga Lake to improve navigation. (SIMON WHEELER / Staff Photo)
Taughannock Boulevard and the edge of Cass Park, foreground, abut the Cayuga Inlet at Inlet Island in this May 2008 view to the east. The Cornell University boathouse is in the center on the inlet, Cornell University is at the top left and downtown is toward the top right. (SIMON WHEELER / Staff Photo)
Cass Park and Taughannock Boulevard are seen in the bottom of a May 2008 aerial photo, adjacent to the Cayuga Inlet where Cascadilla Creek joins the inlet separating Johnson's Boatyard and the Newman Golf Course, left from the Ithaca Farmer's Market, the Ithaca Wastewater Treatment Plant behind it and the New York State Department of Transportation base, right. (SIMON WHEELER / Staff Photo)
Cass Park and Allan H. Treman State Marine Park are seen next to the northern end of the Cayuga Inlet in May 2008. The City of Ithaca is preparing to dredge the inlet and other tributaries of Cayuga Lake. (SIMON WHEELER / Staff Photo)