Newport gets grant to shore up Balboa Island

Paul Clinton

NEWPORT BEACH -- The state will provide $40,000 for the city to study

dredging as a way to prevent erosion on Balboa Island, part of a

$10-million grant package aimed at shoring up California beaches.

The funding, which will be included in the upcoming 2001-02 budget,

was announced by Gov. Gray Davis on Wednesday.

“California’s beaches are a valuable ecological, economic and

recreational resource,” Davis said in a statement. “These grants will

help cities and counties along the coast to restore public beaches and

study new approaches to controlling seashore erosion.”

City officials were pleased with the announcement. Councilman Steve

Bromberg, whose district includes Balboa Island and who lives on Little

Balboa, said the money would be used to fund the dredging study.

The city’s dredging project, estimated to cost between $400,000 and

$600,000, would use silt from the Newport Harbor bottom to replenish the

shoreline.

“If we can bring sand in there so those folks can come to the beach,

those folks can come down and spend those tourist dollars,” Bromberg

said.

For years, the city has fought an eroding shoreline off South Bay

Front by dumping sand on the beach each spring. Other affected areas

include beaches off East Bay Front and North Bay Front.

The replenishment work would focus on the southern edge of the island,

which is about a mile and a half in diameter.

The state funding would be taken from the state’s general fund

revenues -- those collected from taxes. The state Legislature must

approve the package.

Since 1995, the state has funded “sand renourishment” projects and

studies to the tune of about $1.7 million each year.