Middletown is hopeful it can get permission and funds to dredge Shadow Lake. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

Austin Canade regularly swims in Shadow Lake, but since the lake is in desperate need of dredging, the experience has become more of a drag for him than anything else.

“When I swim, I feel the growth,” Canade said. “I feel like it’s going to take me under one of these days.”

Before he gets sucked under, the township has what it believes is its best chance in years to dredge the shrinking lake, which has also seen rising contamination levels, and bring it back to a healthier state.

On Monday, officials applied, as they do each year, for funding from the state. So fair, they’ve been unsuccessful.

But there’s reason to be optimistic this go-round, they said.

Several meetings with new representatives from the state Department of Environmental Protection to find a location for the lake’s spoils and obtain the necessary permits to dredge have gone smoother than in the past, Attorney Brian Nelson said.

“We can’t do anything without permits,” he said, “but the DEP is working with us much better than it formerly did. Before it was clear they were not giving us permits.”

Permits are one major hurdle. Getting funding to dredge, estimated at about $4 million, is another.

The cost of the project would go through the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust, and if approved, wouldn’t come through until the next budget year, Nelson said.

And if that’s approved, Nelson said the market would be a competitive one, with a high number of contractors wrapping up federal stimulus jobs and looking for big projects.

“The hope is to strike at the right time,” he said.