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MANISTIQUE -- The multi-million dollar dredging project in Manistique's harbor looks to begin this fall.  That's according to Senator Carl Levin, who visited the U.P. Wednesday.  He helped allocate the federal funding for harbors not on only in Manistique but across the state.

Senator Levin helped get six million dollars for state dredging projects through the Army Corps of Engineers.  And Manistique is looking to get about two million dollars of that for their project.

Officials say it's been a long time coming.

About 110,000 cubic yards of sediment will be removed from a portion of Manistique's channel.  Officials hope it will increase the depth of the waterway to about 12 feet.

Senator Levin told residents Wednesday the project was worth fighting for.

"We've worked hard to get it--the funding--and we got it," explained Levin.  "We actually got that appropriation, I believe, in 2009 or the 2010 appropriation bill."

It's been almost a decade since Manistique's last dredging, and city officials say it just keeps getting worse.

"The dredging project for the city of Manistique is needed very badly," said Mayor David Peterson.  "I mean, we've had complaints from boaters getting hung up on sandbars out here, in less than five feet of water."

But Levin says the need stretches across the entire state.

"We were able to get the six million dollars for the dredging of Michigan harbors," Levin explained.  "There's a lot of harbors in Michigan and an awful lot of them need dredging, and we're going to get about a third of that, roughly, maybe a quarter of that, here in Manistique."

Bids for the project are due by the end of the month.  Levin believes the work will get started by the fall.