SCAPPOOSE, Ore. — A $494,000 dredging project at Scappoose Bay Marine Park is complete, improving boater access to the lower Willamette and Columbia rivers.
The Oregon Marine Board reports that dredging deepened the water around the boat ramp and temporary moorage by removing almost 40,000 cubic yards of fill.
Prior to the dredging, boats were grounding out in the channel at low tide.
The site provides access to fishing for spring chinook, steelhead, coho and sturgeon within a mile or two of the ramp, said Tom Murtagh, district fish biologist for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Other recreation uses include kayaking and canoeing, with access to backwater sloughs and channels in Scappoose Bay or on Sauvie Island.