Funding for dredging the channel on the western end of Milford Haven has been approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, using funds provided under the American Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine announced in a joint news release last week that $5.675 million has been awarded to dredge the channel and repair an adjacent jetty.

Mathews County Planning and Zoning Director Thomas Jenkins said he had been working with the Army Corps and the Gibson family of the Islander Motel and Restaurant for the past couple of years on arranging a spoils site in order to get the channel dredged. The dredge spoils are slated to be placed on the beach at the Islander, he said, but the jetty there needs to be rebuilt first to stop the sand from going back into the channel.

A dredging project for the other end of Milford Haven, at Hole in the Wall, received $1.5 million in Army Corps funding last year, said Jenkins, and the only thing holding that up is...