The process of excavating or scooping material from the bottom of bodies of water to deepen channels or remove sediment. The act of bringing up or uncovering something from depths.
From Middle English dredge, possibly from Old French draguer (to fish with a dragnet). The word originally related to fishing techniques and gradually expanded to include excavation of waterways.
Dredging is essential for maintaining shipping channels and ports worldwide, but it's also a double-edged sword environmentally—while necessary for commerce, it can disrupt aquatic ecosystems and stir up pollutants that have settled in sediments over decades.
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