Draft Report and Environmental Assessment regarding navigation-related problems affecting the local users of St. Jerome Creek in St. Mary’s County is now out for public review.
The purpose of this report is to identify a solution that is economically feasible with minimal environmental impacts.
Currently, shoaling reduces the controlling depth of the channel below the authorized channel depth of 7 feet, typically within two years of maintenance dredging, restricting use of the waterway at low tide.
The proposed project includes construction of two batter pile/vinyl sheet pile jetties held in place by vinyl covered piles at the entrance to St. Jerome Creek.
The south jetty would be approximately 1,330 ft in length and connect to the shoreline about 200 ft south of the northern tip of Deep Point. The north jetty would be approximately 1,770 ft in length and connect about 250 ft east of the tip of the sand spit of St. Jerome Point. The existing entrance channel would be realigned to pass straight through the inlet.
A federally-maintained spur would remain to the west after the reconfigured channel passes Deep Point, continuing to the existing Southern Prong channel.
The channel section realignment is proposed to make the channel more hydraulically efficient; thereby reducing the potential for shoaling.
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