Senator wants dredging funds

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein has asked Congress for $23.7 million in federal funding to clean up Newport Harbor.

City officials expect to have word on whether the project will get a chunk of federal money later this year. Congress isn’t expected to approve appropriations until after the November election.

Feinstein also helped obtain federal money to dredge Upper Newport Bay; Congress approved $17.3 million in stimulus money last year to finish dredging in the Upper Bay. That project is slated for completion later this year.

“The senator has had a long life of meaningful public service,” Newport Beach Councilwoman Leslie Daigle said. “She wrote legislation to enable the restoration of the Upper Bay and is now a leader in bringing Newport Harbor back to its designed depth.”

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimates that 1.2 million cubic yards of sediment need to be dredged from Newport Harbor.

The harbor hasn’t been thoroughly cleaned since the 1930s, and boaters often complain of running aground. Cleaning the harbor falls under federal jurisdiction, but the project is low on the list of priorities because government officials view the site as a pleasure harbor, not a working waterway.

“Over the past several years, the harbor’s federally authorized channel has experienced significant shoaling, impacting all boat traffic — in some areas less than 5 feet of depth is available,” Feinstein’s office said in an e-mail to the Daily Pilot. “This is a valuable use of taxpayer funds because dredging will provide full access to the harbor, which is home to a U.S. Coast Guard station.”

Daigle and Newport Beach City Manager Dave Kiff traveled to Washington, D.C., in March to request funding for the project. There they met with Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove), and Sens. Barbara Boxer and Feinstein, both California Democrats, as well as U.S. Reps. John Campbell (R-Newport Beach), Ed Royce (R-Orange) and Ken Calvert (R-Riverside).

Sanchez also has put in a request for $6 million in appropriations to dredge the harbor.

If Congress approves funding, work would probably begin in early 2011, Daigle said.

A second phase would begin in early 2012, if more federal money is forthcoming.