Fox River Grove dredges harbor

FOX RIVER GROVE – The Fox River harbor in Fox River Grove is undergoing dredging to make the area accessible to boats once again.

Rich Lauritsen, the chairman of the dredging committee for the Fox River Grove harbor team, said the water in the harbor used to be 4 feet deep but now is less than 2 feet deep. That caused problems for boaters such as Don Koss.

“The sediment has made the harbor less useful,” Koss said. “It’s hard to get the boats in and out, and it pulls a lot of muck into your engine. Many [propellers] have been killed while going in and out of the harbor.”

Sediment that has collected in the harbor from past flooding is being removed by scuba divers using 4-inch hydraulic vacuums, which suck the material into containers called geotubes. According to Lauritsen, more frequent flooding over the past decade has allowed the sediment to build up more quickly than usual.

“Over the years, the sediment from the shoreline has settled into the harbor and limited its use,” Lauritsen said. “Boats can’t get into it, and it has been about 20 years since we’ve dredged.”

The work, which began Wednesday, will finish Friday.

After the material is placed into geotubes, it’s moved onto a site offshore, said Lauritsen. There, the sediment is left to dry, which could take up to two months. After the material dries, it will be one-tenth its former size. Then it will be removed.

Lauritsen said the procedure wouldn’t harm the environment or any of the creatures who lived along the shore since the dredging was taking place away from those areas.

“Vacuuming the sediment from the harbor doesn’t disturb the shorelines and is healthy for the river,” Lauritsen said.

The dredging was paid for by the harbor team, which is a nonprofit group. It was financed through donations.