Senator Shaheen & Fmr. Senator Gregg Tour Rye Harbor & Discuss Upcoming Dredging Project

**Shaheen led successful effort to secure approval & $4 million in funding for Rye Harbor dredging** 

Senator Shaheen and former Senator Gregg during their visit to Rye Harbor to receive an update on dredging operations scheduled to begin this fall. Full-resolution versions of these photos can be downloaded here. 

(Manchester, NH) – Today, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and former U.S. Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) visited Rye Harbor and received an update on dredging operations scheduled to begin this fall. The dredging is necessary to combat the severe shoaling that has rendered parts of the waterway difficult to navigate. During their visit, Shaheen and Gregg met with state and local officials, including the Director of New Hampshire Ports and Harbors and the Harbor Master to hear a status update on the dredging plan as well as the need to preserve the use of this important harbor. Shaheen and Gregg also participated in a boat tour of the harbor to see the shoaling and planned dredging up close.

“Dredging Rye Harbor is such an important priority for our coastal communities because the safety and livelihoods of our fishermen, the lobster industry and many more depend on it being fully operational. It transcends politics and is about delivering for our Seacoast businesses and families, and I appreciate Senator Gregg’s voice in this effort and that today we could see up close how the project will move forward this fall,” said U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen. “I fought to secure the funding for this project, and previously for Hampton-Seabrook Harbor, to ensure our harbors are safe and our local economy is stable. As a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I’ll continue to push for additional resources for the Army Corps of Engineers to prioritize other needs in our community, including the Portsmouth Harbor and Piscataqua River Navigation Improvement Project, so our waterways are safe and secure across the region.”

“This was a team effort, involving the community, users of the harbor and especially the commercial fishermen. But it never would have been completed without the efforts of Senator Shaheen and I thank her very much for all of her work on this,” said former U.S. Senator Judd Gregg.

A fierce advocate of Granite State coastal communities, Shaheen repeatedly called on the Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) to dredge Rye Harbor and prioritize the project. In response to Shaheen’s efforts, the Corps included $4 million to complete dredging work at Rye Harbor in their fiscal year 2020 work plan, and later offered assurances to complete this work in a timely manner. Shaheen had previously led efforts to help secure approval and funding to dredge Hampton-Seabrook Harbor, which started in the fall of 2019 and was completed.