Hello Dredge the Little Wicomico Friends,

My Letter to the Editor appears in today’s Rappahannock Record. I hope you’ll join me in urging our lawmakers to act — state and federal — so that 2026 becomes the year that safe navigation is restored at the Little Wicomico River entrance to the Chesapeake Bay.

A Resolution Worth Keeping:  Urge Your Elected Officials to Fund Dredging and Repair of the Little Wicomico Jetty

No matter where you vote in Virginia, your voice can help restore safe navigation to the Chesapeake Bay.
The Little Wicomico River jetty at Smith Point marks the entrance from the river into the Chesapeake Bay, just south of the Potomac River’s mouth and along the route to Tangier and Smith Islands. Smith Point sits at a crossroads of the Chesapeake, serving boaters from Lancaster, Richmond County, the lower Northern Neck, and anyone navigating between the Potomac and the Bay. The Little Wicomico Jetty is a federally authorized navigation channel — a lifeline for emergency response, commercial operators, watermen, anglers, and recreational boaters.

Today, the entrance is severely shoaled and poses a public safety risk. Just a year ago, the entrance served as a harbor of refuge when Bay weather turned, offering deeper water and protection from dangerous conditions. Shoaling has forced Smith Point Sea Rescue (SPSR), the volunteer marine first responder for this stretch of the Bay, to relocate a rescue vessel from the Little Wicomico. This adds nearly 10 miles — and about 45 minutes — to emergency response times in the central Bay. Commercial watermen, many 3rd and 4th generation, now face tide-restricted access to their fishing grounds.

A safe entrance protects every mariner who relies on these waters.

The required permit has been submitted.  The project is ready for 2026 bipartisan funding consideration. As state and federal budget cycles begin in January, please contact the elected federal and state officials where you vote and ask them to support 2026 funding for jetty dredging and repair:  https://whosmy.virginiageneralassembly.gov/ 

Statewide support for 2026 funding can restore safe navigation at Smith Point and protect a piece of our Chesapeake Bay heritage. Please write today.

Wishing for each of you a Happy New Year!

Dredge the Little Wicomico Jetty! VA