Even though Isle of Palms’ beaches are under constant threat from erosion, the reverse is true for the IOP Marina.
Every decade or so, the marina becomes too laden with silt and sediment for boats to navigate safely, and wheels are turning now to have the marina dredged sometime in the city’s next fiscal year.
“We have applied for permits for this project but that is it,” said Mayor Phillip Pounds. “We received $1.5 million from the state budget to assist with this project, but no bids or contracts have been awarded at this point so we don’t yet know the total cost.”
IOP City will pay for the public areas around the marina, and City Councilman Rusty Streetman added that plans for the dredging go back to 2023.
“The marina was last dredged by the city in 2011, and 22,000 cubic yards of sediment was removed at that time,” he said. “It was also dredged once before … in a partnership with Dewees Island and the Morgan Creek Harbor Association, as well as the City of IOP.”
Marina dredging is necessary periodically to maintain proper channel depth, so as to allow easy ingress and egress by recreational boats, DNR vessels, charter fishing, fire rescue and other emergency service boats.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports that dredging is also performed to “reduce the exposure of fish, wildlife and people to contaminants and to prevent the spread of contaminants to other areas of the water body.”
“The design and federal permitting has been completed, and right now the project is out for public comments,” Streetman said. “The project is now in the FY (Fiscal Year) 26 budget.”
Which means that the dredging could take place anytime beginning July 1.
“The next time it will be mentioned in a council meeting would be our workshop on May 13 – basically a progress report,” Streetman said.
The FY 26 budget is still under review, with final discussion and approval expected at the May 27 city council meeting. While nothing in the budget is final until formally adopted, Streetman and Pounds are confident that the marina dredging will happen as soon as possible in the new fiscal year.
“It would not be during the summer months due to all the marina traffic,” Streetman said. “We usually try to do projects that could affect traffic during the slower season rather than the period of time between Memorial Day and Labor Day.”
By L. C. Leach III
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