As the Petaluma River practically boils with the activity of beginning paddle boarders, seasoned kayakers, and yachters taking to the water in the summer heat, there's little sign of a problem rising up beneath the surface: silt.
The river has always deposited sediment as it meandered down to San Pablo Bay, with silt piling up over time and requiring a dredging every four years or so to enable barges to keep passing through.
But now, such dredging is long past due and it's unclear when funding will come available to do it again.
"We're having trouble, its affecting commerce," said Christian Lind, general manager of Petaluma's tugboat and barge company Jerico Products.
He explained that Jerico guides barges down the river at high tide, when the deep water allows the company to put more material on the barge and still clear the river bottom. Being able to float so much cargo makes transportation inexpensive and fuel-efficient, he said.
"But as the river silts in, we lose inches of depth, we lose inches of cargo we can carry, and we lose profit and savings," he said, adding that the problem is already costing the company hundreds of thousands of dollars.
As the river gets shallower, recreational boaters are also feeling the impact.
"We've lost customers already," said Barry Thorsson, harbormaster at the Petaluma Marina, explaining that at low tide some of the boats with deep bottoms become mired in the muck.
On Memorial Day, some visiting sailboats got temporarily stuck in the downtown Turning Basin, said Greg Waugh, a Penngrove resident and former San Francisco Bay bar pilot who sails in the river.
That could cost the city money as boaters are deterred from coming to Petaluma, paying docking fees and spending money downtown, he said, echoing the sentiment of Tom Corbett of the Petaluma Yacht Club.
"When visiting boaters get stuck, word spreads all over the bay to prospective visitors," Corbett said.
He added that it was important to dredge the river for flood control as well as commerce and tourism.
"If we continue to get silting, it is more likely the river will rise and flood in the next rainy season," he said.
But while the need for dredging is clear, how to get it done is not. Responsibility falls to different authorities: The Army Corps of Engineers is tasked with dredging the river in order to maintain it for commercial boat traffic, while the Federal Emergency Management Agency will step in occasionally for flood control.
The river was last dredged following the New Years Eve flooding in 2006 with funding from FEMA.
Dredging the marina, meanwhile, falls to the city. Currently there's no funding to do so, said Remleh Scherzinger of the Public Works department, though he said the city will take a preparatory step toward dredging in the coming fiscal year.
That step will be to prepare a maintenance plan for the site - the wetlands surrounded by Shollenberger Park - where the dredge spoils, or sediment, must be deposited.
Dredging on the river, meanwhile, remains even more in limbo. The Army Corps of Engineers has typically dredged it every four years as part of its duty to keep navigable channels clear, but the last time it did so was in 2003.
Jessica Burton Evans, a federal employee who oversees dredging projects for the Corps in the Bay Area, did not have time to comment on Tuesday. In January, she told the Argus-Courier that the agency has put the item in its budget request since 2007 but has not succeeded in getting it into the president's budget.
"We know we are overdue for maintenance and backlog on this channel as well as others in the Bay Area, but until we receive an appropriation, unfortunately, there's not a lot we can do," she said at the time.
Lind, of Jerico, recalled that various businesses and river groups previously got together to put pressure on the city to advocate for the river dredging. He acknowledged that something similar might have to happen again.
"It's up to us right now," he said.
In the past, Petaluma asked its congresswoman to campaign on the city's behalf for dredging, but Scherzinger said now it is the Army Corps of Engineers, rather than legislators, who must ask for the funds.
He said that the best way to put the Petaluma River on track for dredging is for individuals to write letters to the Corps requesting it. So far, he said, there haven't been any formal requests from the public. Letters can be sent to Scherzinger at 202 North McDowell Boulevard, and he will forward them on to the agency.
(Contact Jamie Hansen at jamie.han sen@arguscourier.com)
UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy: