Land-based dredging at the Whakatane River entrance is set to commence next week, following a marked shallowing of the channel through the ‘Narrows’.

Whakatāne District Council Senior Commercial Operations Officer Mark Cleghorn says boat-based bucket dredging of the entrance channel and river bar has been undertaken since the beginning of December, but ongoing depth monitoring has confirmed a steady shallowing at the seaward end of the Narrows.

“Subject to confirmation by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, we intend to have a long-reach excavator on site and ready to start dredging the channel from the eastern and north-eastern training walls before the end of next week.”

He says the process will be similar to the dredging work carried out successfully at the river entrance in late 2013, with the excavator removing the sediment within reach of the training walls and boat-based dredging continuing on the western side of the channel, and at the river bar, on outgoing tides.

“Our latest soundings indicate that the minimum low tide depths through the outer section of the Narrows to the bar range from 1 metre to about 1.4 metres,” Mr Cleghorn says. “With the river flow expected to reduce over the summer months, that situation could deteriorate quite quickly, so we’ve decided to take a proactive approach and deepen the channel as much and as quickly as possible, to ensure that the entrance is in reasonable shape for the busiest part of the recreational boating season.”

Sediment will be stockpiled in the reserve area adjacent to the eastern training wall at the end of Muriwai Drive, with the work area cordoned off and unavailable to the public for the duration of the dredging activities. The Council apologises for any inconvenience and asks reserve users to stay away from the area until the work has concluded and the sediment stockpiles have been removed.