NEWPORT BEACH CITY MANAGER UPDATE:
DREDGING PROJECT
BY GUEST CONTRIBUTOR GRACE LEUNG, NEWPORT BEACH CITY MANAGER – JANUARY 31, 2025
Source: Newport Beach Independent – https://www.newportbeachindy.com/newport-beach-city-manager-update-dredging-project-nbpd-mobile-cafe/
Grace Leung, Newport Beach City Manager
The long-awaited dredging project for lower Newport Harbor will move forward, following recent approval by the Newport Beach City Council and Port of Long Beach to use dredged sediment for a pier fill project at the port.
This arrangement is similar to Newport Beach’s previous projects in 2011 and 2012, when dredged sediment from Newport Harbor that was unsuitable for open ocean disposal was transported to Long Beach for the Middle Harbor Redevelopment Project.
A port fill option was not available when the City and Army Corps of Engineers began designing plans for the upcoming phase of dredging in Newport Harbor. The City’s proposed solution, known as confined aquatic disposal, will no longer be required. Now, up to 225,000 cubic yards of dredged material will be transported by barge to the Port of Long Beach, and the remaining material will be placed in a federally approved open ocean site.
This dredging project, which removes accumulated sediment from the harbor floor, is critical to maintain the navigational safety and the environmental health of Newport Harbor.
The Army Corps of Engineers is expected to begin dredging within the next few months.
Source: Newport Beach Independent – https://www.newportbeachindy.com/newport-beach-city-manager-update-dredging-project-nbpd-mobile-cafe/
The long-awaited dredging project for lower Newport Harbor will move forward, following recent approval by the Newport Beach City Council and Port of Long Beach to use dredged sediment for a pier fill project at the port.
This arrangement is similar to Newport Beach’s previous projects in 2011 and 2012, when dredged sediment from Newport Harbor that was unsuitable for open ocean disposal was transported to Long Beach for the Middle Harbor Redevelopment Project.
A public swimming pool complex to include a 50-meter pool, a therapy pool, a splash pad and a building for events is moving closer to reality and could become the city’s next successful public-private partnership.
Recently, the Newport Beach City Council approved a change to the city’s general plan that allows the area at Lower Castaways Park to be zoned for development and accommodate the facility.
Having sold four of the five highest-priced Newport Harbor waterfront homes during his 24-year sales career, Coldwell-Banker realtor Tim Smith has been “cleaning up,” but not in the way you might think.
An avid fisherman (he owns a Boston Whaler Realm 38’) and Dover Shores resident who “loves this harbor,” Smith has been focused on how he can help make the bay as clean as possible.
It’s surprising what you can find at the bottom of Newport Harbor.
Bicycles, toolboxes, traffic cones, even a boat. There’s lots of plastic and things that have fallen off boats—not that boaters are dumping stuff deliberately; they just wind up in the harbor.
On one memorable occasion, a diver found a gun. “We informed the police and they said don’t touch it,” explained boatman Guy Harden. “Two divers stayed there until the police showed up, saying the gun was part of an investigation. We never heard anything about it after that, sorry to say.”
The City of Newport Beach celebrated two significant milestones in Newport Harbor on Wednesday, August 27: opening a new public dock and welcoming the first electric patrol vessel in the Harbor Department fleet.
The new VITA Seal electric boat is also the first all-electric work vessel delivered to any public agency in the United States.
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!