Shallow waters

Abandoned Wellington Channel dredging operation causes concerns for Rescue Association

For the members of the Wellington Auxiliary Rescue Association (WARA), saving lives and keeping boaters safe on the water is already a tough task. And it has just become an even tougher one. In late March, a dredging crew from Cobourg arrived with intentions of clearing Wellington channel of the sand that has been washed back in by Lake Ontario’s current. The project was halted on April 5. The crew packed the dredger and its gear up and left.

Wellington Channel is usually dredged every two years. It is supposed to have a minimum depth of four feet. Scott Johnston, President of WARA says that there is currently roughly two feet at the mouth of the channel. “When they were taking measurements in late March, there was two feet just before the entrance to the channel. There is around three feet in the middle, but the mouth always fills in faster,” says Johnston. Johnston says the water level is currently a little higher than normal for this time of year. The level will rise as there is more runoff, and it is dependent on how much water is let down from the St. Lawrence Seaway system.

The WARA boat needs roughly three feet to exit and enter the channel, which raises concerns with a busy summer boating season on the horizon. “We need 32 inches to get our boat out of the channel. The boat is full of equipment and usually has four people on it which causes it to draught a little lower. Our ability to get out and rescue—and if you can scrape by getting out—if it is any sizable boat, we aren’t going to be able to tow them in to safety,” says Johnston.

WARA has about 20 members, of which 15 are active and capable of responding to marine emergencies. The rescue boat is moored in Wellington Harbour and the group is mandated by the Canadian Coast Guard to be able to respond within 30 minutes of receiving a request from the Trenton-based Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC). The JRCC handles marine emergency calls across Canada and has at its disposal primary assets such as rescue helicopters and a Hercules aircraft. There is a Coast Guard boat in Cobourg that is crewed 24 hours a day, and there are a number of volunteer Auxiliary units dotted around the lake that provide on-demand response.

With the channel being so shallow, it leaves a stretch of Lake Ontario, from Brighton to Waupoos, without a safe haven for boaters to flee to when bad weather comes up, or when mechanical issues occur. “That’s a huge stretch of Lake Ontario that has had its problems. There is an area near Pt. Petre that in the last 10 years, we have gone to six or seven rescues in that one area,” says Johnston.

According to Pat Heffernan, Acting Director of Operational Services with the County, there were a number of challenges that halted the project. “Due to poor weather conditions, mechanical issues, and delays in the permit process, the planned Wellington Channel dredging will not take place this spring during the short window to perform in-water operations,” said Heffernan. “This work may take place in the fall after the beach use and boating season has ended. We are gathering more information on water depth in the channel to determine the impact on this season’s boat traffic.”

Johnston also worries about the viability of WARA if they are “down and out” for a season. The members of WARA are all volunteers and have had extensive training to be able to respond to marine calls. In addition to being qualified in First Aid and having radio operator training, the volunteers take 20 hours of classroom lessons and 20 hours of on-water training. There are also ongoing training exercises. Johnston says that while the crew can do some of its training on West Lake, it isn’t the best option. “When you are doing search patterns that are a nautical mile long, you run out of space quite quickly,” says Johnston. “It’s hard to keep members. Our motto is “volunteers saving lives on the water” and if they can’t go out, our membership retention drops.” The WARA was also awarded a $12,000 grant from 100 People Who Care Prince Edward County, which was meant to go towards completing the boat’s electronics upgrades including radios, GPS, chart plotter and radar. Johnston admits he would be rather embarrassed if the association wasn’t able to operate this year.

Ultimately, Johnston points to the harbour, and the economic impact it has on the County. “I don’t think there will be any traffic. The commercial fishing guys are too big. If there is only two feet now, by August there could be less than a foot,” says Johnston. “If a summer goes by where there are no slippage fees, then the priority and resources available to the harbour slip away. Since the days of the Wellington Harbour Improvement Project, it has seemed to have lost its priority.”