The purchase of an Edgartown dredge in the mid-1990s has proved to be a major money-saver for the town. This year, the Edgartown parks department estimated it saved around $18 million by using locally dredged sand to restore the dunes at South Beach.
The state Department of Environmental Protection Monday granted Edgartown emergency authorization to dredge Katama Bay, clearing the way for a project intended to help restore the storm-battered South Beach.
Gov. Maura Healey announced Friday that the town of Edgartown along with Barnstable County will receive a combined $1 million in grants to support coastal dredging efforts.
From massive dredging and beach renourishment in Oak Bluffs and Edgartown to renovations at the Gay Head Cliffs overlook, a number of public works improvement projects are under way around the Island this winter.
The first hint of spring weather drew visitors in considerable numbers to the newly constructed Tashmoo Creek at Vineyard Haven, where the firm Turner and Breivogel is making the waterway which will turn the lower half of Lake Tashmoo into an arm of the sea. Although plans of the creek were drawn before the opening was votes, and these plans have been available to anyone, the appearance of the creek, as it begins to take shape, exceeds by far the popular conception of what it was to be.
