City beseeches Congress

U.S. Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Corona) is asking Congress for $13 million to finish dredging in Upper Newport Bay.

“Dredging Newport Bay for environmental quality and aquatic purposes is a long-held goal of the city. After all, it’s the jewel of our community,” Newport Beach Councilwoman Leslie Daigle said. “We appreciate Congressman Calvert’s responsiveness to community needs.”

Calvert serves on the powerful House of Representatives appropriations committee.

Daigle recently flew to Washington, D.C., to meet with members of the Orange County congressional delegation to ask for federal funding to finish cleaning out Upper Newport Bay.

One of the last remaining costal wetlands in California, the Upper Bay is home to several species of protected migratory birds. The completed dredging project will improve water quality in the Upper Bay for the animals that call it home.

“Its benefits are more than regional as it is a stop-over in the Pacific Flyway, a major migratory corridor,” Daigle said.

“It plays an important role in providing habitat and protecting species.”

Newport Beach also is waiting to hear word on whether it will get $13.1 million in federal stimulus funding it has requested to complete dredging in Upper Newport Bay and $15 million to begin dredging in Newport Harbor, which hasn’t been thoroughly dredged for more than 70 years.

Congress has already doled out $2.87 million in federal funding to the dredging project in the recent 2009 omnibus spending bill. Calvert, along with U.S. Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) and U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove) along with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, sponsored the appropriation.

Reporter BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at brianna.bailey@latimes.com.