After a winter locked in lake ice, hibernation is over for the dredge in Edgewater Bay.

Shell Rock River Watershed District Administrator Andy Henschel said dredging began again Monday.

It is an earlier start compared to both last year and a tentative schedule for the first phase of dredging, which outlined a June start. An April start, as well as having the necessary permits all in hand, means the district will easily finish contract one this summer or fall and may even begin on contract two, Henschel said.

This would also be an earlier start than intended for phase two.

A portion of Edgewater Bay located roughly between the bandshell and Edgewater Pavilion is part of both contract one and two, Henschel said. J.F. Brennan, the dredging and marine construction company currently responsible for contracts one and two of the Fountain Lake dredging, will save this portion of the bay for last.

“We want to try to allow the Bayside Ski Team to keep skiing during the summer,” Henschel said. “So, we want to move into this area last.”

If they move forward onto contract two, this area is where that work would begin. Ending phase one with this area also means if the district maxes out its sediment removal allowance on other portions of Edgewater Bay, it could remove additional cubic yards from this portion of Edgewater Bay under contract two.

The phase one contract approved approximately 635,000 cubic yards of sediment to be removed from Edgewater Bay, though the district had an option added that allows them to potentially remove closer to 700,000 cubic yards.

Last year, just under 300,000 cubic yards of sediment was removed. Henschel said the amount of sediment to be removed this year will depend on an updated measurement of how much sediment has accrued in areas of the lake since the last bathymetric measurement — a measure of the lake’s depth and underwater topography — taken in 2009. He does not expect the amount to vary much, estimating a removal of close to 350,000 cubic yards of sediment or more.

Sediment removed through contract one is sent to the first confined disposal facility. Henschel said the sediment in this cell has compacted better than expected.

“There’s potential that we’ll have room in cell one for some of the main bay material,” he said.

There may be time at the end of the year to move into the main bay of Fountain Lake, though this will depend on timing and how quickly Brennan moves through contract one, Henschel said. However, moving the dredge also means a new pipeline alignment to carry sediment dredged from Fountain Lake to the CDF site, and Henschel said he expects Brennan will do that first.