updated: 12:15 p.m. Thursday

A month-long dredging project is under way at Oak Creek's Bender Park, which means the boat launch will be shut down until mid-May.

The launch is widely used by boaters from throughout the region, but was closed after boats kept getting stuck. A contractor hired by the county is now in the process of removing sediment and opening up a channel 45 feet wide. 

The re-opening is dependent on the weather, but the middle of next month is the goal, said Jim Keegan, director of administration and external affairs for Milwaukee County Parks. A sign posted at the park says the launch will re-open May 21.

The price to dredge the Bender Park area is in the neighborhood of $280,000, Keegan said. The county is picking up half of that cost.

Dredging projects like this one are common throughout the Great Lakes, Keegan said, because of the weather inflicted on the region.

"We're fighting against Mother Nature," he said, "and Mother Nature always wins."