Dredging Application Funded
The Northern Neck Planning District Commission’s application to the Virginia Waterway Maintenance Fund (VWMF) has been awarded $2.6 million.
Its purpose is the emergency maintenance dredging of the navigational channel at the mouth of the Little Wicomico River, in Northumberland County.
Starting in 2025, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) took over the administration of the Virginia Waterway Maintenance Fund. On Tuesday, February 24, 2026, Jerry W. Davis, the Executive Director of the Northern Neck Planning District Commission, presented the application’s merits to VMRC commissioners, who voted unanimously to approve it.
The Little Wicomico River is a federally authorized channel. It serves as a critical access point to the Chesapeake Bay for commercial watermen, recreational boaters, and emergency response vessels.
It has been over a decade since the last maintenance dredging of the Little Wicomico River was performed. Increased shoaling of its navigational channel has already closed passage to several vessels with drafts greater than its current average depths. Of particular concern is the impact this shoaling has had on the Smith Point Sea Rescue, the only all-volunteer sea rescue organization operating on the Chesapeake Bay.
The NNPDC’s application was made on behalf of Northumberland County and prepared with technical assistance from VIMS, Shore Consulting Group, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It enjoys the support of boaters and property owners in Northumberland County; citizen advisory groups; members of Smith Point Sea Rescue; the Virginia Waterman’s Association; and local, state, and federal elected officials.
Permitting and engineering design activities will continue in the coming months and be completed by early July 2026, when the funds become available and the project is expected to go out to bid.
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In 2018, the Virginia General Assembly established the Virginia Waterway Maintenance Fund. It provides the opportunity for localities to receive funds for planning, design, and construction of dredge projects.
There are 123 working waterfronts in the Northern Neck of Virginia that facilitate commercial fishing, aquaculture, recreational boating, and boat building and repair.
The Northern Neck Planning District Commission (NNPDC) contracted with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) and the Shore Consulting Group (SCG) to develop a Regional Shallow Draft Channel Dredging Plan. The plan began by identifying 142 waterbodies with potential dredge needs in Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond, and Westmoreland Counties, and the Town of Colonial Beach.
The Initial Phase (Phase One) – lists 19 water bodies that emerged from the prioritization analysis.
The Feasibility Phase (Phase Two) – includes data collected and analyzed to provide information to the localities regarding the water bodies that may need to be dredged to maintain residential and economic usage.
Selected Studies (Phase Three) – includes further study of five water bodies that are experiencing shoaling. The five are Greenvale Creek in Lancaster County, the Little Wicomico River and Cranes Creek in Northumberland County, Farnham Creek in Richmond County, and Bonum Creek in Westmoreland County.
The study includes obtaining sub-bottom cores in the channel and sampling for grain size to determine the exact type of material that will be dredged, doing a bathymetric survey by a licensed surveyor to determine the volume of material that will need to be dredged.
Sediment will be sampled in each water body for possible chemical contamination. The study will also locate a disposal area(s) for each dredging project, verify and approve channel designs and approximate costs by a licensed engineer, and develop a Joint Permit Application (JPA) for each project that can be submitted for agency review.
Final Design and Preparation of Bid Documents (Phase Four) – $240,000 was appropriated in FY26 to complete the final design and preparation of bid documents for a dredging project at the Little Wicomico River in Northumberland County.
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