The Government of New South Wales recently released the NSW Maritime Infrastructure Plan (Dec. 2018), in which the $445,000 in Coastal Dredging Strategy funding has been allocated to improve the Batemans Bay entrance bar for boating access.
The plan states the importance of maintaining access in the Clyde River, Batemans Bay.
Batemans Bay is a popular recreational boating destination within easy reach from Canberra that supports significant tourism activity and provides access to the Batemans Bay Marine Park, including the Montague Island Nature Reserve.
The area also supports a growing and regionally important aquaculture industry, particularly oyster farming, and a range of other commercial operations including marinas, fishing businesses, hire and drive businesses and commercial passenger vessels.
Following the last dredging works in 2016, the community was reassured that the Batemans Bay entrance will be kept open at 1.3-1.5 meters at a minimum. In the absence of maintenance dredging works, the depth of the lower reaches of the river is now around 70 cm deep.