Governor Rick Snyder signed a bill pouring $20.9 million into an emergency dredging program.
The money will allow 58 public bays and harbors, used mostly for recreational boating, to be cleared of the sands and sediment that are clogging them and leaving many boats stranded. The dredging is needed to deal with the consequences of record low lake levels in the Great Lakes, especially Lakes Michigan and Huron.
The original list cited 49 bays and harbors, but state officials said they are confident that they will have enough money to do all 58 sites. The dredging will be paid for with $11.5 million in general fund dollars, with the rest coming from the Waterways Commission Trust Fund.
The state has done a survey of dredging companies that operate in Michigan and have found 120 available to do the job, allowing the dredging to get done before the boating season gets fully under way after Memorial Day