At the December 11, 2025 Northumberland County Board of Supervisors meeting, County Administrator Luttrell Tadlock provided an update on progress toward dredging the Little Wicomico River federal navigation channel.

The Board approved Mr. Tadlock to sign the Joint Permit Application (JPA) and a required Section 408 authorization with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the permit application will be submitted to the regulators in the next week or so.

A Joint Permit Application (JPA) is the standard process used in Virginia to coordinate environmental and regulatory review among state and federal agencies, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Virginia Marine Resources Commission. Submitting a JPA allows agencies to review a project together rather than through separate applications. 

A Section 408 authorization is a required federal review when work is proposed in or near an existing U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project. It ensures that the proposed dredging is compatible with the original federally authorized navigation project and does not impair its function.  

Draft easement documents related to the project, including dredged-material placement, are being finalized following review with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

This permit is limited to dredging the federally authorized navigation channel only. Jetty repair will be addressed as a separate project in the future.

Continued community awareness is helping move this project forward.

• Sharing the petition and reaching out to state and federal officials for your district helps raise awareness of the safety, access, and economic impacts of jetty shoaling in the Little Wicomico as funding is pursued for this project in 2026.

Thank you for helping keep this project visible as it continues through the next steps.