Local News in Brief : South County : Dana Point Harbor Dredging to Begin

Dredging of Dana Point Harbor will begin this fall to clear away shoals that have interfered with navigation, according to Orange County officials.

The dredging project, which will be completed in two phases at a cost of $855,000, is expected to remove 37,800 cubic yards of silt and sand from the harbor, according to Tom Mathews, an aide to Supervisor Thomas F. Riley, whose district includes the harbor. Most of the material--about 30,000 cubic yards--is “good sand� that will be used to build up nearby beaches, Mathews said.

“Much of the silting of the past couple of years has been attributed to runoff from construction work done on the bluffs overlooking the harbor, including a hotel and other buildings,� he said. “Now, most of that work is finished, and we hope the problem will decrease.�

The first-phase operation, to begin this year, will remove shoals throughout the harbor, particularly in the channel near Michael’s Supper Club restaurant. The second phase, scheduled for next summer, will clear up sand and silt that has accumulated along the inner sides of the breakwaters.

Main channels will be dredged to a depth of 12 feet at low tide and some areas of both the east and west basins will be cleared to 8 feet at low tide, Mathews said. The dredging, the second such project in less than two years in the Dana Point Harbor, has been approved by the Orange County Board of Supervisors.