PORT HURON

Council asked to approve canal dredging agreement

Bob Gross
Times Herald

High water several weeks ago reversed the flow of the Black River Canal, letting water rush into Lake Huron and raising hopes that it might scour out the sand bar at the head of the canal.

A narrow channel - note the footprints on either side- cuts through a large sandbar at the head of the Black River Canal.

"When it was reverse flow, it was like rapids out in the lake," said James Freed, Port Huron city manager.

But the flow is back to normal - from the lake into the Black River - and Mother Nature didn't get the job done. A large sandbar remains at the entrance to the canal with a small channel that north winds on Saturday squeezed down to a width an adult could easily step over.

Port Huron City Manager James Freed

Freed said the canal entrance will have to be dredged before boaters can use it. He expects he will get the go-ahead from the state Department of Environmental Quality the second or third week of May.

Before that happens, members of the Port Huron City Council will be asked at Monday's meeting to approve an agreement calling for Port Huron Township and Fort Gratiot to contribute to the costs of dredging the canal.

The council meets at 7 p.m. Monday.

Port Huron Township approved the agreement on April 4; Fort Gratiot approved it on April 6.

Freed said the budget for dredging the canal is $30,000. Each township will pay 25 percent of the bill, up to a maximum $7,500. If the dredging bill is less than $30,000, the townships will pay less than $7,500 each, he said.

In return, Fort Gratiot and Port Huron Township residents will be able to pay the city rate of $5 and have unlimited access to Lakeside Park for the year.

Bob Lewandowski, Port Huron Township supervisor, said the Black River Canal is a key part of the Island Loop National Water Trail.

"I think both townships have kayak launches, and we want to maintain the national water trail," he said.

"Our residents get to utilize their park (Lakeside) at the same price as their residents do," he said. "With the improvements they’re going to make there, we are going to possibly get more residents using it."

Bob Lewandowski, Port Huron Township supervisor.

The city is making about $500,000 in improvements at Lakeside including a splash pad and new bathroom and concessions facilities that are scheduled to open Memorial Day.

Jorja Baldwin, Fort Gratiot Township supervisor, said the township has an accessible canoe and kayak launch at North River Road Park on the Black River - and not everyone who can use that launch can portage a canoe or kayak past the sandbar. She said the township wanted to keep that access open to the Island Loop.

"We have over 100 properties on the Black River that also might use that to get out to the lake," she said.

Jorja Baldwin, Fort Gratiot supervisor.

Freed said the city counts on the spring flow reversal to remove some of the sand at the Lake Huron end of the canal.

"In fact, the dredging that has to be done is very minimal now," he said. "There's nothing unusual about it. That's something we count on in our projections."

Freed said besides kayakers and canoeists, boaters use the canal for access to and from the lake.

"It's extremely critical not only for tourism, but also for safety," he said. "When storms kick up and small vessels can't get down to the Black River, that is their escape route off the lake."

Missy Campau, who owns Missy's Kayak Connection, said the canal is an important link in the Island Loop trail.

"It's quite important," she said. "It's important to our city and what we do for recreation. It's a huge access point to the lake."

She said when the canal flow reversed, the water was really pushing out into the lake.

But that didn't last.

"In my opinion, it absolutely will have to be done," Campau said. "Even if the water is flowing on top of the sand, it will have to be done. Paddlers can get through, but not the powerboats.

"We can hop out of our boats and carry them, portage around it, but the boaters can't do that."

Greg Dimick, a kayaker from Port Huron, favors a more permanent solution such as a breakwall.

"I don’t understand why they can’t come up with a better solution than just dumping that money in digging it out all the time," he said. "... You’d think they’d come up with a solution."

A narrow channel cuts through a large sand bar at the mouth of the Black River Canal.

He said the canal is a critical part of the Island Loop.

"We use it all the time, all the kayakers do, if you want to do the loop and get out into the lake," he said. "It can be a huge tourist attraction ...

"It’s no fun to go down the Black River Canal and find out you’re blocked off and have to come back," Dimick said.

Riverside kayak shop opening in spring

Freed said Port Huron is becoming a destination for paddle sport enthusiasts.

"In the summer, I will go to Thumb Coast for lunch, and there will be someone there with a kayak," he said.

Contact Bob Gross at (810) 989-6263 or rgross@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @RobertGross477

If You Go

The Port Huron City Council meets at 7 p.m. Monday in the public meeting room of the Municipal Office Center, 100 McMorran Blvd.