Voting to open the town's checkbook for $100,000 for emergency dredging, the town agreed last week to finish clearing the Patchogue River entrance channel to its design width and depth. But with luck-and a favorable state ruling that the channel bottom material is clean enough to use as beach replenishment-Harbor Commission Chairman John Rie said the commission might not even need to tap this money.

The Harbor Commission has pursued two parallel paths to assure funding is in place to finish clearing at least the entrance channel in May before the dredging window ends and boating season begins.

The first path was to secure town funds to complete a 4,000 cubic yard emergency dredging project to return the entrance channel to design width of 125 feet and depth eight feet plus one foot. Over the past three years, several small, town-funded emergency dredging projects have removed material to clear portions of the Westbrook Harbor entrance channel. This project would finish clearing just the entrance channel.

The Board of Selectmen and Board of Finance decided to fund this year's emergency project with $25,000 in capital reserves set aside for dredging plus a $75,000 appropriation from the town's fund balance, its savings account. Now that the town meeting vote has authorized this plan, the commission will seek quotes for the work.

The second parallel path was to try to gain approval to use the Army Corps of Engineers' Currituck dredge-and therefore, access to the $689,000 in federal funds already set aside to pay for a major Westbrook Harbor dredging project. According to the Corps, 8,000 to 10,000 cubic yards of material could be removed from both the harbor channel and entrance channel in May if use of the Currituck dredge is authorized by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

The Currituck dredge already will be dredging in the nearby Clinton Harbor in May. That's because DEP has already decided that the Clinton Harbor dredge material is clean enough to replenish Hammonasset Beach.

But for Westbrook to use the Currituck dredge, too, DEP must rule that Westbrook's dredge spoils are also clean enough. Rie said DEP should announce its decision by May 4, one week after the project's public comment period ends on April 25.

"We asked for town funding to take care of the worst of the channel's shoaling problem, in case the Corps project falls through. But if the Connecticut DEP approves the Currituck dredging plan, no town funding will be required to complete the dredging," said Rie. "I'm cautiously optimistic that the Army Corps and their dredge will be able to dredge our harbor channel."

Technically, the Westbrook Harbor and harbor entrance

channel are a federal responsibility to maintain at proper depths, but all funding for federal dredging projects-especially for clearing recreational harbors-has been reduced to just a trickle in recent years. With the dredge funding drought, the long-planned $1.4 million dredging of Westbrook's harbor and channel has been delayed for years. Along with the delay have come more shoaling, shallower channels and anchorages, and a loss to deeper harbors of the bigger boats to that used to moor in Westbrook.

According to Rie, about 10 percent of the town's economy is dependent on boaters. More than 2,000 boats call Westbrook Harbor their home port.

Whichever dredging method is approved, all entrance channel and harbor dredging work must be done by the DEP-enforced deadline of May 27. The DEP stop-work deadline is imposed each year to protect the reproductive cycle of key marine species.