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Craney Island Dredged Material Management Area

Contact Information

USACE Norfolk District
803 Front Street
Norfolk, VA 23510
dll-cenao-pa@usace.army.mil

Visitation Policy

The Craney Island Dredged Material Management Area is closed to individual recreational visitors. On a case-by-case basis, staff members will accommodate organized group visits including area school groups, bird clubs, conservation groups and other natural resource groups. Such recreational group activities will, in most cases, be arranged during the weekend when there is no construction work underway. Groups interested in visiting Craney Island are encouraged to call the facility project office at (757) 484-1021 to arrange visits to the facility.

Background

The Craney Island Dredged Material Management Area is a 2,500-acre confined dredged material disposal site located near Norfolk, VA.

Plans for the site were developed in the early 1940s to provide a long-term disposal area for material dredged from the channels and ports in the Hampton Roads area. Hampton Roads, including the ports of Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Newport News, and Hampton, comprises Virginia's greatest port complex.

Hampton Roads is generally recognized as the southernmost boundary of the Boston-New York-Washington industrial, commercial, residential, and recreational complex. Commercial, agricultural, and industrial development in the Hampton Roads area, along with the movement of naval vessels, is dependent upon maintaining project depths in the Hampton Roads channels.

Prior to and during World War II, dredged material removed from these channels was primarily disposed of in open water sites. As these open water sites neared capacity at the end of the war, Congress authorized a study to determine a more permanent and lasting means for disposing of dredged material from the Hampton Roads area.

As a result, development of the Craney Island Disposal Area was recommended and approved by Congress under the River and Harbor Act of 1946. Actual construction of Craney Island was completed in 1957. Since that time, this site has received maintenance, private, and permit dredged material from numerous dredging projects in the Hampton Roads area.

Mosquito Management

The Craney Island Dredged Material Management Area is a 2,500-acre confined dredged material disposal site located in Portsmouth, Virginia.

The geography and features of the site create a habitat for mosquitoes in which they can live and breed.

Norfolk District's Integrated Pest Management Plan is an adaptive approach to mosquito population management at Craney Island, as the  quality of life of the Portsmouth community is a top priority. 

These mosquito surveillance and control activities are in accord with the Department of Defense guidelines on reducing the risk of mosquito-borne diseases and have the added benefit of reducing nuisance mosquito populations at Craney Island and the adjacent areas of Portsmouth, Virginia. 

The Norfolk District uses a three-pronged approach to mosquito control at CIDMMA, incorporating habitat control, larvae & adult control and surveillance:

  • Source Reduction
    Land management activities to reduce mosquito habitat. This includes pumping dredge material into the cells to keep mosquito populations down, mowing, herbiciding and ditching (dewatering an area before mosquito emergence can occur).
  • Surveillance
    Information gathering and analysis, which includes weather forecasts, mosquito trap numbers from and citizen complaints to the City of Portsmouth, and larvae observed on Craney Island.
  • Larvae Control
    Aerial spraying of pesticides and biological control (bacteria) to target developing mosquitoes. Officials schedule larvicide spraying based on standing water amounts and the presence of larvae observed on Craney Island.
  • Adult Control
    Aerial spraying of pesticides/adulticides. Officials schedule adulticide spraying based on mosquito trap numbers, mosquito complaints the City of Portsmouth receives, and projected weather.

The Norfolk District does not have the authority to spray over city or private property; spraying efforts are limited to federal property. Officials coordinate mosquito adulticide flights with the City of Portsmouth so the city can synchronize their spraying on non-federal areas in order to maximize the effectiveness of the treatments in northern parts of Portsmouth.

Norfolk District adheres to the Virginia Department of Agriculture's pesticide laws and regulations, and gives 48 hours notice before spraying.

Notices from the Norfolk District will also remind local beekeepers to keep their bees covered when adulticide spraying is scheduled.

Portsmouth Mosquito Hotline
757-393-8666

Portsmouth residents can call to report mosquito problems between the hours of 7:30 a.m. - 4 p.m.
The City of Portsmouth respond to all calls within 48 hours. Please provide a name, address and phone number.

City of Portsmouth Mosquito FAQ

Virginia Department of Health Mosquito FAQ

Related Links

Project News

Norfolk District schedules aerial mosquito treatment at Craney Island on Oct. 14
10/9/2025
The Norfolk District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has scheduled aerial mosquito treatment on Tuesday, Oct. 14, over federal property on Craney Island, with a backup date of Wednesday, Oct. 15...
USACE Norfolk District, City of Portsmouth reschedule adulticide aerial mosquito spraying for Oct 6
10/3/2025
The Norfolk District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the City of Portsmouth, Virginia, will conduct joint aerial adulticide mosquito spraying on Monday, Oct. 6, over federal property on Craney...
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