Boaters are in deep water at last after a months-long dredging project at Wailoa Small Boat Harbor in Hilo wrapped up last week.

The harbor, one of East Hawaii’s last functioning boat launches after the Pohoiki Boat Ramp in Puna was cut off during the 2018 Kilauea eruption, had not been dredged for more than seven years, and sediment had accumulated at the harbor mouth.

Boats repeatedly went aground attempting to pass the mouth of the Wailoa River, and boaters quickly learned the harbor was usable only at the highest tides.

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation began a project to dredge the river in July, using $3.2 million in capital improvement funds. That work ended Nov. 27, the DLNR announced Tuesday, although construction equipment including a barge will remain on-site until Saturday.

The total cost of the project swelled to $4.8 million, according to a DLNR news release, but the cost overrun was covered through DOBOR’s Boating Special Fund, which is replenished from statewide harbor and boating facility use fees.

“We appreciate the public’s patience, understanding and advocacy as DOBOR navigated the permitting and funding hurdles to get this project completed before the end of the year,” DOBOR Administrator Meghan Statts said in a statement. ”We also appreciate the Legislature for recognizing the importance of this project and providing funding.”

“It’s definitely better. It’s deeper,” boater Antoine Debarge said Tuesday, mooring his boat directly across the river mouth from Suisan Fish Market. “This was completely dry land here a few months ago.”

State Sen. Lorraine Inouye (D, Hilo), who advocated for the initial $3.2 million allocation, said she was happy East Hawaii boaters can finally safely access the ocean again from the harbor, but lamented that the problem persisted for years.

“When I became District 1 senator in 2022, that was already a problem, and we embarked on making sure it got fixed,” Inouye said. “I’m happy we were able to do this, but the boaters had to deal with it for so long.”

Inouye said she will continue to monitor conditions at the harbor and will listen to boaters’ concerns to identify other potential issues that need to be addressed. She added that she is working on a project to determine the accumulation rates of sediment at the harbor so future dredging operations are more timely.

Inouye went on to say that she will try to make additional funds available for additional maintenance projects at the harbor during the 2025 legislative session, which begins in January.