August 22, 2003

N. P. Dodge Park marina boaters may be landlocked for awhile longer

ecause of the court-ordered reduction of river flow on the Missouri River last week, Omaha parks officials were forced to block the entrance to the N.P. Dodge Park Marina on August 11th.

	Boats in N. P. Dodge Park Marina leave their slips to beach up a few yards away during the River Thunder Dry Dock party held August 16th at the marina pavilion. (ORF 8.16.03)

The temporary earth dam was installed so that it could be removed when the water level came up enough so that no damage would be done to the floating docks in the marina. River levels are not expected to rebound to the required 15 ft. depth until after Labor Day, thus forcing the city to keep the marina closed for now.

This cannot make the more than 300 boaters who keep their boats in the marina happy. They already lost a good portion of the regular boating season this past Spring because of weather conditions and now this. Boaters in this marina pay anywhere from $400 to $1,600 to rent their boat slips. Some of the smaller boats, of course, can be pulled out and re-launched at the public ramp, that has remained open, but many of these boats are much too large to even think about doing this. Most of the boaters in Dodge Park are simply forced to sit around and wait while they watch boats who can get out cruise up and down the river.

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission officials announced this week that plans should be made now to re-engineer the marina. Federal grant funds could be available to pay a substantial portion

	Omaha's 'landlocked' N.P. Dodge Park marina boaters bow-up their boats on the park's marina shoreline during the annual River Thunder Poker Run. The Poker Run was declared a 'Drydock Party' this year because the marina access channel was dammed due to low river water levels.

of the needed improvements, they said. The commission helped fund the original construction of the marina with grants of this nature.

Although the commission claims they have worked hard to develop and encourage recreational boating on the Missouri, they are also on record as supporting more natural flows on the river. They are working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to conduct and help fund a marina study.

Some of the possibilities are purchasing a dredging barge that could be used by all marinas in the area or installing a more high-tech gate that could hold back water when needed than lowered when the conditions are right.

A portion of the money needed for this study may come from boat registrations. These funds are normally used for boat ramps and boating safety programs. Excise taxes paid on boats and fishing equipment could also possibly be used to help fund the ultimate solution.

Larry Foster, acting Omaha Parks and Recreations Director, says it could cost more than $1 million to solve the marina's problems.