With boating season underway, the state is providing local boaters in Piermont with a new tool aimed at helping them navigate the Hudson River.

The state recently mapped the river's bottom as part of the new Tappan Zee Bridge construction project to help boaters near the work zone avoid getting stuck near the marina.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation required the mapping as a way to protect the river's endangered species.

Some residents say mapping the riverbed is enough. However, Suren Kilerciyan, owner of Cornetta's Restaurant & Marina in Piermont, is calling on the state to dredge a separate clear path to the main channel.

He says with all of the construction barges in the river, most boaters will want to avoid the work zone and his marina altogether.

State officials say they don't have the authority to dredge a second channel and say it would be too costly.

Once the Coast Guard approves the area, it will be marked with marking buoys or channel markers so that boaters will know the safest routes to get into the Piermont marinas and the businesses that are there.

The Coast Guard is expected to approve the buoy markers within the next few weeks.