The dredging project along the channel between North Tenmile Lake and South Tenmile Lake is scheduled to begin next month.
Contractors will remove about 10,000 cubic yards of material along the mile-long stretch to ensure boats can continue to cross into North Lake, which otherwise can only be reached via a private road.
The last time the channel was dredged was in 1998, and it requires re-dredging every 10 to 15 years as material slowly refills the space.
County parks director Larry Robison said that, while there was ample space for boats to cross in the wintertime, it had become a squeeze in summer when water levels were low.
“ Sometimes it gets to where you can only get one boat through ,” he said.
That created a traffic jam for Lakeside’s fireboat, Coos County’s marine patrol, and the residents of homes in Tenmile Lake who reach their properties by boat.
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Dredging Today Staff, December 26, 2011;