PROTECT
PENTWATER HARBOR
Why funding is needed
Boat traffic between Lake Michigan and Pentwater Lake is extremely important to the economic health of our community. It supports the fishing community, and brings boats, guests, shoppers, and potential residents to the Pentwater area. Inability to use the channel would adversely affect life in the Pentwater area, and would almost certainly decrease property values and tax revenues.
The channel that provides the connection fills with sand, and has required dredging almost every year for at least 30 years. Historically, it has been as shallow as 2 feet in 1867 and 1921. In the past, as well as this year, the dredging has been funded by the federal government. It seems very unlikely that such funding will be consistently available for the Pentwater channel in the future. This is why the Protect Pentwater Channel Citizens Committee was formed. We are a volunteer group of citizens who are seeking to find ways to keep our channel open for the future enjoyment of our community and all its visitors.
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Current Information
On July 20, 2022, thanks to generous local donations, the threat of channel closure was eliminated! A limited dredge of the Pentwater Channel was COMPLETED and the Harbor remained OPEN. In 2023, Our State representatives came through with FY22 appropriations for the US Army Corp of Engineers and did a complete deep dredge for 2023 season. This full deep Dredge was completed in August of 2023 by the King Company, and we now have a clean channel with a consistent depth of nearly 16 feet from Pentwater Lake to the end of the channel.
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Great news to not only the residents and boaters of Pentwater, but transient boaters as well!
The Pentwater Community is looking forward to hosting Chicago to Mac Racers and vacation cruisers alike in 2024.
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The dredging's of 2022, and 2023 are tremendous wins for the boating and water enthusiasts of this area, but the work is never finished. The influx of sand in our channel and harbor is a constant battle, and depths can literally change with every storm. The Village of Pentwater and the Protect Pentwater Harbor Channel committee are not letting up on continued pressure and efforts to find a long-term solution to our channel shoaling efforts and dredging needs! Stay tuned as we work with organizations like the Village of Pentwater, Pentwater Township, the Pentwater Lake Improvement Board, and other shallow harbor communities, all of whom cannot rely on last minute emergency appropriations to keep their local economies open.
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So don’t delay! Tell all your friends and fellow boaters to make your summer plans to include a stop in charming Pentwater!
Meeting Minutes
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