To combat the declining water levels on Lake Michigan, the Washington Island Ferry Line and the Town of Washington continue to pursue funding to dredge the navigation channel in Detroit Harbor.
The Washington Island Observer reports that after the Wisconsin Department of Transportation turned down a request for a Harbor Assistance Program grant this past spring, the Ferry Line signed a second contract with Foth Environmental for a continuation of Foth's assistance in supplying WisDOT and the WisDOT-associated Harbor Advisory Council with additional data about conditions in the channel.
WIFL President Hoyt Purinton tells the paper that the DOT had some funds left over after their grant year and the Ferry Line is trying to get a smaller request, off-cycle, to obtain funding for final engineering studies and core sampling.
Purinton tells us that water levels continue to drop and are on pace to go "well below" the recent low level reached in 2007.
Purinton says he's hoping to get an answer from the state on the off-cycle funding before the end of October.
