The arrival of suction dredge vessel New Era from Dunedin was delayed because of poor weather this month and on Tuesday Waitaki District Council assets group manager Neil Jorgensen said some of stage 1 of the project - the removal of about 7000cu m of material from a 3m-deep, 120m by 40m channel late last year - could be undone before the suction dredge arrived next year.
"There is some potential there will be some infill."
The required work for stage 2 was expected to take up to 10 working days and originally it was hoped the dredge vessel would be in Oamaru from August 10.
Council property manager Renee Julius said the consent stipulated the work was to be done before the end of August to avoid spreading the marine algae Undaria pinnatifida, sometimes referred to as "gorse of the sea".
The council had not yet surveyed the work to see whether any infilling of the channel had occurred.
