The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

The outlook for deepening soon the channel for the ferry Wahkiakum isn't optimistic, Wahkiakum County officials learned this week.

The channel has silted in over the past few years, and at low tides during the low flows of August and September, the ferry had trouble making its crossing without running aground.

Wahkiakum County commissioners have asked the US Army Corps of Engineers to dredge the channel as part of their maintenance program, but the Corps hasn't been able to put the project on its dredging program.

Commissioners have enlisted the aid of federal representatives, and Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler brought the matter to the attention of the Corps. In response, Corps District Commander John W. Eisenhauer, PE, said other projects took precedence.

"Maintaining the Wahkiakum Ferry channel is very important to the local county, but the Corps is currently faced with prioritizing limited federal dollars across projects nationally," Eisenhauer wrote in his response to Rep. Herrea Beutler. "The Corps allocated those funds nationally based on the funding criteria outlined in the Civils Works Budget Engineering Circular. As a consequence, we were unable to fund maintenance dredging of the ferry channel in the current Fiscal Year 2013 Portland District budget because of higher priority needs within our program.

Herrera Beutler has joined Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and Representatives Peter DeFazio and Curt Schrader in writing to President Obama to encourage the Obama administration to fund the project and other dredging projects as small ports along the coast out of the federal Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF).

"Annual HMT revenues total more than $1.5 billion, while approximately $800 million of that is actually spent on its intended purpose," they wrote. "Meanwhile, our country's deep draft and small coastal projects remain vastly underfunded."

Wahkiakum County commissioners discussed the situation Tuesday and authorized Public Works Director Pete Ringen to draft a letter urging the Congress and president to include funding for the small dredging projects in the federal Fiscal Year 2014 budget.

Ringen said the county would have two options if the federal budget doesn't cover the dredging: 1. The county could pay for the dredging itself, and that would be expensive, and 2. the ferry would cease operations at periods of low water.

Commissioners agreed that ceasing operation at low water was the most likely scenario.

"Shut the ferry down at low tide," said Commissioners Lisa Marsyla. "Put it in words they'll understand: The ferry will be closed."

Commissioners feel the ferry is a vital interstate transportation link, especially when the Astoria bridge might be closed, or SR 4 or US 30 might be closed.

"Things do happen here, and the ferry has become a lifeline," Ringen said.

The county will go to bid on a new, larger ferry in January; construction should be finished in 2014. The county has already notified the Corps that the channel will need modification to accommodate the new ferry.

"The Corps has also received a written request from the county to revise the ferry channel to accommodate the new ramp and larger ferry," Eisenhauer said in his letter to Herrera Beutler. "We are reviewing the request and will work with the county on their proposal."