Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties

Dredging re-opens Oman's Creek

LITTLE GIRL'S POINT - Dredging once again took place this week at Little Girl's Point as workers attempt to keep Oman's Creek open and unblocked by sediment.

The Department of Natural Resources has contracted with Gogebic County to perform the dredging operations, according to Jeff Gaertner, DNR park manager for the Porcupine Mountains State Park and Lake Gogebic area. The actual work is done by Angelo Luppino Construction.

The funds to pay for the dredging are a regular part of the DNR's waterways funding, according to Gaertner.

Gaertner said the dredging has been regularly scheduled to take place every Thursday, as long as the weather conditions allow it.

Gaertner said last week was one of the times when the weather wasn't suitable for dredging, as the bad weather "will fill (the creek) right back in."

The lack of dredging last week meant the entire creek mouth was blocked with sediment by Wednesday, but work done over the past few days re-opened the creek and restored the flow of water by Friday.

The dredging is scheduled to run through at least September, according to the calendar posted at Oman's Creek.

While the sediment build-up means the dredging needs to frequently take place to be effective, Gaertner called it "the best we've got right now," with the resources available.

He did say the DNR has begun to explore a more permanent solution to the sediment deposits blocking the mouth of the creek, but made clear the discussions are still in the very preliminary stages and "nothing was on paper yet."

 
 
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