U.S. Dredging: A Cornerstone of Maritime Commerce and National Defense

There are several major dredging opportunities emerging across the United States that extend well beyond traditional maintenance dredging, channel deepenings, or harbor expansions. Increasingly, the American dredging industry is becoming a strategic tool for addressing some of the nation's most pressing challenges, including water security, agricultural sustainability, coastal resilience, maritime industrial revitalization, and national defense. Among the most significant opportunities are efforts to restore freshwater conveyance capacity in California's Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta and San Joaquin Valley, support the infrastructure necessary for a revitalized shipbuilding and ship repair industrial base, and expand large-scale coastal restoration and beach nourishment programs.

Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta

For decades, the channels of the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta have been gradually silting in due to sediment accumulation, reducing the capacity of one of America's most important waterway systems. Often described as the beating heart of California's water infrastructure, the Delta serves as a critical artery for the movement of freshwater that supports millions of residents, farms, and businesses throughout the state and across the western United States.

Historically, many Delta channels were routinely maintained to depths sufficient to allow water to flow efficiently through the system. Since the late 1960s, however, dredging activity has steadily declined due to an increasingly complex patchwork of federal and state regulatory requirements. In some areas, maintenance dredging has not occurred for more than four decades. Channels that once averaged depths of 12 feet have, in certain locations, shoaled to less than two feet.

The consequences of this sediment accumulation extend far beyond navigation. Flood risks have increased as channel capacity has diminished. Water quality has deteriorated. Most importantly, the pumps, canals, and conveyance systems that supply water for drinking, agriculture, industry, and environmental purposes are increasingly operating below their intended design capacity.

Agriculture is the largest economic driver in the Delta, and the effects of sediment accumulation have reduced the ability of many farmers to fully irrigate their crops, resulting in lower agricultural productivity and fewer employment opportunities for Delta residents. Boating and recreation, the second-largest contributor to the Delta economy, have also been negatively impacted as increasingly shallow waterways make navigation more hazardous and less predictable. Sediment accumulation can also increase turbidity, reducing water clarity and visibility for recreational boaters.
Recognizing the growing urgency, a coalition of agricultural producers, ranchers, water users, and regional stakeholders operating through the Great Valley Farm Water Partnership has begun exploring practical solutions to restore water flow throughout the Delta system before conditions worsen further. One of the most immediate and cost-effective actions would be to restore routine dredging as a core water-management function.
Such an effort could build upon Executive Order 14181, issued on January 24, 2025, entitled Emergency Measures to Provide Water Resources in California and Improve Disaster Response in Certain Areas. The Executive Order directs federal agencies to ensure adequate water supplies for California and to remove unnecessary barriers that impede the efficient delivery of water resources. While significant investments have been made in reservoirs, pumps, canals, and water conveyance infrastructure, those investments cannot achieve their full intended benefit if the channels feeding the system continue to lose capacity due to sediment accumulation.

Restoring the Delta's conveyance capacity through strategic, recurring dredging would improve water movement, enhance flood protection, strengthen water quality, increase drought resilience, and maximize the effectiveness of existing federal and state water infrastructure investments. In many respects, dredging represents one of the most practical and immediately available tools to improve California's water security without constructing major new infrastructure.

The lesson from the Delta is straightforward: when channels designed to move water are allowed to fill with sediment, the entire system suffers. Restoring routine dredging more than just a navigation project, it is a water infrastructure project. As the nation looks to strengthen water supplies, rebuild coastlines, and expand shipbuilding capacity, the Delta may prove to be an early example of how dredging can support some of America's most important strategic priorities.

Shipyards – Dredging as a Prerequisite to Maritime Revival

The Trump Administration and Congress have recognized the urgent need to expand America's shipbuilding, maintenance, and repair capacity, particularly on the West Coast. These priorities are reflected in President Trump's Maritime Action Plan and in the bipartisan Shipbuilding and Harbor Infrastructure for Prosperity and Security (SHIPS) for America Act. If the United States is serious about restoring maritime dominance and competing in the Pacific, it will need additional shipyard capacity west of the Panama Canal. Many potential shipyard sites, however, have been dormant or underutilized for decades and will require significant dredging to restore channel access and accommodate the vessels that will be built, repaired, and maintained there.

Mare Island in Northern California illustrates both the opportunity and the challenge. Once a cornerstone of American naval shipbuilding, the facility is now the focus of revitalization efforts tied to broader federal initiatives aimed at expanding the nation's maritime industrial base. Likewise, nearby sites in the California Delta, including Rough and Ready Island and other former industrial properties, are being evaluated for major shipyard development capable of supporting both commercial and defense-related maritime activities.

These efforts are supported by proposals to establish a Maritime Prosperity Zone within the California Delta, leveraging the region's deepwater access, historic maritime infrastructure, and available industrial land. If any of these projects move forward, one reality remains constant: shipyards cannot operate without navigable waterways. Before a single vessel can be built, repaired, or delivered, channels, turning basins, berths, and waterfront access points must be dredged and maintained.  In each case, dredging is not a secondary consideration—it is a prerequisite to redevelopment.

The U.S. Coast Guard is also facing capacity constraints at its primary shipyard facility in Baltimore, Maryland, which is operating at or near full utilization. As the Coast Guard's blue-water fleet expands, maritime advocates are increasingly calling for the establishment of a dedicated Coast Guard-owned and -operated shipyard on the West Coast to support Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) activities. Any such facility would require substantial dredging to provide and maintain channel access, turning basins, berthing areas, and waterfront infrastructure capable of supporting a growing fleet.

The need is becoming more urgent as the United States invests in new icebreakers and expands its operational presence in the Arctic. As the Northern Sea Route and Northwest Passage become increasingly accessible to commercial and military traffic, Alaska will play a larger role in America's maritime, economic, and national security strategy. A West Coast shipyard capable of supporting Coast Guard and Arctic operations would represent another significant source of future dredging demand.

Revitalizing America's shipbuilding industry will require more than workforce development, financing, and industrial policy. It will also require a sustained commitment to dredging and maritime infrastructure which encompass the foundational work that makes shipbuilding, ship repair, and maritime readiness possible.

Coastal Restoration, Beach Nourishment and Land Reclamation

With weather events becoming more severe and new technologies and planning approaches taking hold, dredging will be a lynchpin in protecting coastlines, restoring habitat, reclaiming land, and safeguarding coastal communities.

The stretch of marshland in coastal Louisiana known as the East Orleans Land Bridge may finally see meaningful restoration. Nobody actually lives on this strip of land, but it serves as a critical protective barrier for hundreds of thousands of people living in the greater New Orleans region. Over the past 10 to 15 years, it has been disappearing at an alarming rate.

According to the recently published Phase 2 Draft Restoration Plan for the East Orleans Landbridge Restoration Project and Raccoon Island Restoration Project, released by the Louisiana Trustees, the Land Bridge Restoration Project is proposed for construction at an estimated cost of approximately $101.2 million. The project would create approximately 1,320 acres of marsh habitat and construct roughly 14,867 linear feet of shoreline protection. Habitat restoration would be accomplished through dredging and the beneficial use of sediment sourced from Lake St. Catherine.

There is a commonly repeated fact in the Bayou State that Louisiana is losing the equivalent of one football field of land every 100 minutes, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Many factors contribute to this loss, including erosion from storms and oilfield canals, subsidence, sea-level rise, and, some would argue, flood-control structures (i.e., levees) that have reduced the natural flow of river sediments that historically rebuilt and sustained coastal wetlands.

Projects such as the East Orleans Land Bridge demonstrate that dredging is no longer simply about maintaining navigation channels. Increasingly, it is becoming one of the nation's most important tools for coastal restoration, climate resilience, habitat creation, and community protection.

The need for dredging-based restoration is not limited to the Gulf Coast. Similar efforts are underway on the Pacific Coast, where beach nourishment is increasingly being used to protect communities, infrastructure, and recreational shorelines.

On June 10, 2026, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released its draft plan calling for long-term beach nourishment along Oceanside, California's coastline, with an initial placement of 1 million cubic yards of sand followed by additional replenishment every 10 years. The proposal would maintain a minimum beach width of 85 feet from Oceanside Harbor south to Buena Vista Lagoon.

According to the Army Corps, the San Diego County Shoreline (Oceanside) Mitigation Study is intended to address shoreline erosion and other impacts associated with the construction of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in 1942.

Manson Construction recently completed the Oceanside Harbor dredging project for the Army Corps. That operation removed approximately 320,000 cubic yards of sediment from the harbor inlet, significantly improving navigable depths after severe shoaling created hazardous conditions earlier in the season. The dredged material was pumped directly onto Oceanside beaches south of the pier, providing an immediate beach nourishment benefit while supporting navigation.

The Corps identified beach nourishment as the most technically feasible, environmentally acceptable, and cost-effective solution to address erosion linked to the harbor's construction. Federal environmental studies estimate that the harbor has contributed to the loss of between 1.4 million and 1.6 million cubic yards of sand from Oceanside beaches since the 1940s.

These are just two examples of the land reclamation, beach nourishment, and habitat restoration projects that are increasingly driving demand for dredging services across the United States. Whether restoring disappearing wetlands in Louisiana, protecting beaches in California, or strengthening coastal resilience elsewhere, dredging has become an essential tool for protecting communities, supporting ecosystems, and preserving critical infrastructure.

To conclude, America’s dredging industry is not just confined to its traditional role of maintaining navigation channels. U.S. dredging companies are increasingly being called upon to solve larger national challenges. Whether improving water delivery in California's agricultural heartland, restoring disappearing wetlands in Louisiana, protecting beaches in California, or supporting the expansion of America's maritime industrial base, dredging has become an essential component America’s infrastructure gameplan.  The projects highlighted here represent only a portion of the opportunities on the horizon. As the United States confronts growing demands on its water resources, coastlines, and maritime infrastructure, the importance of the American dredging industry will also continue to grow.