Novato Sediment Removal Operations Set for Next Week

The Great Lakes Environmental & Infrastructure Solutions (GLEIS) is about to begin a routine sediment removal operations in three Novato creeks.

The dredging, part of a routine schedule to prevent flooding during the rainy season, will start July 25 and should continue through the end of October, according to the Marin County Flood Control and Water Conservation District.

Accumulated sediment will be removed in the eastern parts of Flood Zone 1, including in the lower reaches of Novato, Warner, and Arroyo Avichi creeks from Diablo Avenue near the downtown area to just downstream of the railroad tracks off Rowland Way, just behind the Century Rowland Plaza movie theater.

During the works, about 1.5 miles of creeks will be dredged within the flood zone this year. The flood control district has contracted GLEIS to perform the work for $1.42 million.

Some of the sediment removed from the creek will be used by the district to begin constructing the initial phases of a new structural core levee within Deer Island Basin, between Slade Park on Manuel Drive and the City of Novato Corporation Yard on Davidson Street.

The 1,800-foot-long structural core levee is being built in response to the gradual and long-term effects of climate change and sea-level rise. The target completion date for the preliminary structural core levee work is September 30 and funding is coming from the Flood Zone 1 budget. The levee work is part of a larger grant-funded project to design and construct an overflow spillway and detention basin.