OCEAN TOWNSHIP — Dredging of a portion of the county’s largest coastal lake is expected to begin later this month to improve water quality and reduce the risk of flooding.
Lawrence Hajna, press officer for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), said the dredging of the eastern most portion of Deal Lake would have a two-fold benefit.
“We’ve already done a lot of work and Deal Lake is the biggest of the coastal lakes,” Hajna said. “This is a six-acre section of a very large lake, but it is a very important section because it is near the gatehouse and the sand piled up by [superstorm] Sandy has restricted water flow through the release gate.
“By removing the sediment and sand, we will be able to restore better flow, which will improve water quality and also reduce the risk of flooding for the people who live around the lake.”
The $1.66 million contract will fund the dredging of 12,000 cubic yards of material and will be funded with $1.5 million through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service’s Emergency Watershed Protection program and $154,600 through the DEP.
Deal Lake is a 158-acre manmade body of water that features recreational uses such as fishing and boating. The lake borders Allenhurst, Asbury Park, Deal, Interlaken, Loch Arbour, Neptune Township and Ocean Township.
According to Hajna, superstorm Sandy created problems for many of the state’s coastal lakes.
“You don’t want stagnant water and these lakes were basically choked off when a lot of stuff was pushed in there,” he said.
The removal of sand will make the lake more accessible for recreation and will restore natural flushing of the lake by removing sand adjacent to the ‘flume’ gatehouse that currently restricts tidal flow, according to a DEP press release.
“The removal of storm surge sediments from Deal Lake is the last of 17 recovery projects funded by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) following Hurricane Sandy,” said the NRCS New Jersey Director, Carrie Lindig.
“This work, sponsored by the Department of Environmental Protection and assisted through the Emergency Watershed Protection Program, will benefit the surrounding communities and help to restore the lower portion of Deal Lake.”
The DEP has already completed a variety of dredging, infrastructure repair and stabilization projects throughout the county including Lake Fletcher in Bradkey Beach, Lake Como in Lake Como, Lake Takanassee in Long Branch, Lake Wesley in Neptune, Silver Lake in Belmar and Sylvan Lake in Avon-by-the Sea.
“We are very pleased to be moving forward with the Deal Lake dredging project, which is the latest in series of projects the Christie Administration is undertaking to restore this region’s network of unique coastal lakes that were severely impacted by Superstorm Sandy,” DEP Commissioner Bob Martin said in a press release.
“The nonprofit Deal Lake Commission (DLC) has been a key partner in coordinating and raising awareness for the need for this project, which will focus on removing silt and sand from six acres of the easternmost portion of the lake.”
Don Brockel, chairman of the Deal Lake Commission, said the project will reduce flooding and improve water quality and reopen recreational opportunities on the lake, long popular among boaters, anglers, canoeists, kayakers, paddle boaters and nature lovers.
“This is wonderful news. It has been a long road back for Deal Lake from superstorm Sandy,” said Brockel, adding the DLC worked closely with the DEP, the NRCS and the City of Asbury Park to secure the dredging funds.
“We hope this will be the first of many other dredging projects that can make Deal Lake more flood resilient and to fully restore it back to pre-Sandy conditions.”
Hajna said the six-acres scheduled to be dredged is at the eastern-most portion of the lake and the state would like to continue work on Deal Lake in the future.
“This is the most critical work right now,” he said. “More work will need to be done but sources of funding have not been identified at this point, but this is an important step in the right direction.”
The project is expected to begin in October and take approximately three months to complete.