Bay funds trickling

Funding to finish the dredging of Upper Newport Harbor could run dry by the end of summer, officials say. Whether the project continues could depend on how much federal support the city can get for the project.

“The federal government is the only one who hasn’t met its obligation to this project,” said Richard Luehrs, president of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce. “Funding is running out, and if we don’t get that funding by next summer, then it will be more costly.”

The chamber is in the midst of a campaign to collect signatures from Newport residents urging federal lawmakers to secure more funding for the dredging. The group has gathered almost 5,000 signatures so far, which will be presented to the Newport Beach City Council Tuesday.

The city has about $3.2 million in federal earmark money to keep the back bay dredging project going, but how much more monetary support the project will get this year remains unclear.

U.S. Rep. John Campbell said he is not against searching for other sources of federal funds, but he probably won’t ask Congress for more earmarked money for the project.

“I don’t do earmarks,” Campbell said.

An earmark is a provision placed in a spending bill at the request of a particular lawmaker. Earmarking allows lawmakers to direct a specific amount of money toward a certain project — such as the Newport dredging project.

Campbell is a vocal critic of the earmarking process — he believes lawmakers too often ask for earmarks that aren’t in the best interest of the taxpayer.

He asked for two earmarks during the last fiscal year, one for funding for the Upper Newport Harbor dredging project. Campbell and three other lawmakers sought $14 million for the project, but were granted only $1 million in funding.

Congress approved another $2.2 million in earmarked funds in December for the project, but that may only be enough to keep the back bay dredging project going through the summer, said Chris Miller, Harbor Resources supervisor.

“We still have a few more months left of money to keep us going up through summer, hopefully; beyond that, we have all of our local, federal and state politicians trying to secure funding.”

The project could cost more to restart if it were forced to shut down and restart due to a lack of funding, Miller said, because the city would have to secure a new contract for the project.

“I don’t think the city would let that happen,” said Newport Beach Councilwoman Leslie Daigle, who is confident city officials will secure more funding before time runs out.

Although funding for the back bay dredging is uncertain, Newport Beach city officials are already looking at ways to pay for dredging the lower harbor with federal funding.

“The city council is being pragmatic and looking at creative ways to fund the project,” Daigle said.

The city is working with Campbell, who has plans to draw up federal legislation this spring that would give Newport Beach control of lower Newport Harbor.

The lower harbor is under the jurisdiction of the Army Corps of Engineers, because it contains a federal navigation channel, but the channel is viewed by the Corps as more of a recreational area than a vital waterway, Newport Beach City Manager Homer Bludau said.

“It has a much lower priority, and the Army Corps always gets underfunded,” Bludau said.

The city views the potential jurisdiction swap as a way to secure funding to continue a much-needed dredging of the harbor, or a way to make a fair swap with the Corps in exchange for completing the dredging, he said.