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Suisun Bay Channel

SUISUN BAY CHANNEL
OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE

PROJECT LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION

This project is located 30 miles northeast of San Francisco and is part of the San Francisco Bay to Stockton Ship Channel. The project provides for annual maintenance dredging of (1) the Suisun Bay Channel (main channel), which is 300 feet wide with a depth of 35 feet Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW), from the Carquinez Strait at Martinez to Pittsburg, (2) New York Slough Channel further upstream to Antioch, a distance of almost 17 miles; (3) a channel 250 feet wide with a depth of 20 feet MLLW south of Seal Islands, from the main channel at Point Edith to the main channel again at Port Chicago, at mile 6.

TOTAL FUNDING

 

TOTAL COST

 N/A

FEDERAL COST

 N/A

NON-FEDERAL COST

 N/A

 

 

FISCAL YEAR 2023 ALLOCATION

$6,230,070

FY 2024 BUDGET

$6,559,000

COST TO COMPLETE

 N/A

 

FY23 ACCOMPLISHMENTS

  • Performed dredging of approximately 120,000 CY in FY23 with a clamshell dredge contract.
  • A contract clamshell dredge was used due to the endangered Delta Smelt within the channel.
  • ERDC, SPN, and SPK evaluating fish entrainment on clamshell dredging and comparing it with hopper dredging for any potential impacts to the Delta Smelt.

FY24 ACCOMPLISHMENTS

  • Plan to dredge approximately 120,000 CY in FY24 with a clamshell dredge contract.
  • A contract clamshell dredge will be used due to the endangered Delta Smelt within the channel.
  • ERDC, SPN, and SPK, to evaluate fish entrainment on clamshell dredging and compare with the hopper dredging for any potential impacts to the Delta Smelt.

ISSUES AND OTHER INFORMATION

  • Contra Costa County is the Non-Federal Sponsor (NFS).
  • Bullshead Shoal requires advance maintenance dredging annually to allow safe passage for vessels.
  • The MOTCO installation has piers that are adjacent to this Channel.
  • ERDC is working with SPN and SPK to evaluate the entrainment of fishery on the hopper and clamshell dredges and present to the environmental agencies for their review and comments.
  • Approximately 4.7 miles of the federal channel passes through a military munition response site from the 1944 Explosion at the Port of Chicago, California. Therefore, a deviation approval and risk acceptance document is required to place the dredged material. Appropriate safety measures have been incorporated into the project.

CONGRESSIONAL INTEREST

  •   8th District, Rep. John Garamendi

POINT OF CONTACT

  • Deputy for Project Management, Thomas R. Williams, 415-503-6560

Updated on 29 February 2024

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