Newport dredging may get $3.8-million boost

Paul Clinton

NEWPORT BEACH -- The local water board has offered Newport Beach $3.8

million for future dredging projects in Upper Newport Bay.

The money would be used for work completed after the $32-million Army

Corps of Engineers dredge set for 2004.

The City Council is set to decide on Tuesday whether to pursue the

$3.8 million. When told about the new money, council members welcomed it

as a long-term answer to pay for continued work.

“The Upper Newport Bay is a very valuable ecosystem and asset for

Newport Beach,” Councilman Dennis O’Neil said. “To have the regional

board grant us money to continue that [dredging] process is a wonderful

thing.”

The Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board has offered the

money, which will come from the fines paid in the aftermath of the

American Trader oil spill. The steel-hull tanker ran aground off the

Huntington Beach coastline on Feb. 7, 1990. About 416,600 gallons of oil

reached the shoreline.

If accepted, the money would be placed in an annuity and invested by

city leaders.

Upper Newport Bay holds a slot on a federal watch list as an “impaired

water body,” a designation that requires local officials to set standards

for pollution flowing into it.

Sediment, which flows downstream from the San Diego Creek into the

Back Bay estuary, has been included as a detrimental pollutant because it

damages the ecosystem.

The bay is also a reservoir for harmful nutrients, fecal coliform

bacteria and toxic substances.

Under federal law, local agencies and the Army Corps of Engineers must

cut the amount of sediment flowing into the bay in half by 2008. That

would be a reduction of 125,000 cubic yards of silt and sand.

Defend the Bay founder Bob Caustin lauded the news of the money but

said it would not be enough. Caustin estimated the tab at close to $50

million for a planned 2028 dredging.

“It’s a good start,” Caustin said of the new funds. “I’m thrilled to

have that, but we need to add to that tenfold.”

City leaders said the money would go a long way. Councilman Steve

Bromberg is excited about the grant.

“Every bit helps,” Bromberg said. “That’s a significant amount, and

it’s going to go to very good use.”

Caustin was instrumental in securing the enforcement of the Back Bay’s

standards, known as “total maximum daily loads,” in the mid-1990s.

Army engineers held a briefing on March 26 for the public agencies

intertwined in the 2004 dredging project. Work is set to begin on Aug. 16

of that year.

The engineers are still working to resolve the problem of the project

removing too much mudflat from the estuary.

The mudflat is crucial for providing a breeding ground for insects and

worms that provide nourishment for the birds. Also, the salt marsh bird’s

beak plant could face a significant reduction. The plant is endangered in

San Diego County.

“When you’re changing an ecosystem, something’s going to win and

something’s going to lose,” Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff said. “Right

now, the salt marsh bird’s beak is on the losing end.”

* Paul Clinton covers the environment, John Wayne Airport and

politics. He may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail ato7

[email protected] .