OLYMPIA - Big was the
key word last week when the Port of Wahkiakum County received
a big check for a BIG
grant for big boats.
On Thursday, Jim Fox, special assistant
to the director of the Office of
the Interagency Committee for Outdoor Recreation, presented
a symbolic check for a $197,712 federal Boating
Infrastructure Grant (BIG). The BIG program provides
funding for recreational boating facilities for big boats
(those 26 feet and larger).
The Port of Wahkiakum County will use the grant to increase the number of transient moorage slips and add water and power hookups to its marina on Elochoman Slough. The port will renovate Dock F, reconfiguring slips on several docks, replace a deteriorating connecting dock and add utilities to 24 new slips. The project will improve the water quality in the marina by using state-of-the-art materials to replace older, treated-wood docks and pilings. Transient moorage will increase by at least 24 percent and most of the new space will accommodate vessels larger than 26 feet in length.
"The approach is a cost-effective way of expanding the marina within its existing footprint," Fox said. "Additionally, this approach involves the least disruption to the water in the marina, the adjoining Elochoman Slough and the Columbia River."
Funding for BIG grants comes from a portion of the federal Aquatic Resources Trust Fund administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
"Washington has more than 250,000 registered
boats plying its rivers, lakes, coasts and Puget Sound,"
Fox said. "We need to make sure that the facilities in the
state can accommodate those boaters. The Port of Wahkiakum
County's marina will increase the services offered to boaters.
It's vital to keeping Washington a destination for outdoor
recreation."
|
