Stockton boaters got good news and bad news on Friday.
The good news: Dredges are on the way to Buckley Cove to clear out sediment that has made boating a dicey proposition in some spots. The built-up silt and sludge can make it particularly troublesome for those trying to keep their vessels from running aground.
The bad news: The project will require closing the Buckley Cove Boat Launch from October through December. Boaters can sill use the launches in Louis and Morelli parks.
Dredging will remove “many years of built-up sediment to bring back safer, more navigable depths,” Mayor Christina Fugazi said in a social media post. “This type of infrastructure work is easy to miss, yet it is vital for keeping Stockton’s waterways open.”
Buckley Cove is home to the Stockton Sailing Club, a marina and dry storage yard. The complex is situated off Tenmile Slough near the tony Brookside neighborhood.
The dredging will encompass 13.8 acres, the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board said in a 2025 filing. The project will include dredging the entrance channel and waterways around the boat launch “and as far into the berths as equipment will allow.”
Dredging will be completed to a maximum depth of 8 feet below the low-tide water mark, plus an additional 2 feet, according to the filing.
It’s anticipated that 70,000 cubic yards of sediment will be removed, in order to fulfill requirements of the Clean Water Act.
And what’s expected to be pulled out likely won’t be only built-up sediment. The filing says that “debris known to be in the cove include shopping carts, dead trees, and potentially a car, and will be removed if encountered.”
Barges will transport the dredged material to the Roberts Island Dredged Material Placement Site or the Montezuma Wetlands Restoration Project, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said in a separate filing.