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/
By Phillip Palmer
ABC Eyewitness News, Los Angeles
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (KABC) — Keeping garbage out of the ocean isn’t easy. So enter Mr. Trash Wheel, the 70-square-foot barge gobbling up garbage by the ton to keep the beach and ocean pristine.
Trash in the streets ends up in the river and then from the river, the ocean.
Hoping to reduce the amount of trash making it to the ocean, Newport Beach is set to become the first west coast city to use a water wheel system to scoop up trash headed toward Upper Newport Bay.
“We really need to knock that trash load down. This is not going to be a silver bullet, it’s not going to get everything, but it’s going to get a big slug of stuff,” said John Kappeler, a senior engineer for the city of Newport Beach.
By Matt Morrison
For a generation of youngsters who grew up around the Newport Harbor, there’s a legacy to perpetuate. OK, maybe they’re only considered youngsters on a geologic scale, yet together they’ve accumulated decades of passion for the fabulous waterway central to our community. The goal now is to preserve it for generations to come.
We might compare it to fixing up a stately landmark home; the curb appeal is still magnificent but the bones need attention. Dennis Durgan can certainly relate to the analogy.
A residential real estate professional in the community for more than four decades, Durgan grew up on the harbor, beginning in the early 1960’s when it was a seasonal recreation destination. He learned to sail here, then went on to crew in three America’s Cup competitions working with both Ted Turner and Dennis Connor. Now it’s a cause for the future, and not just his own.
“There are numerous issues the harbor has, and will continue to have, as we move forward. There’s more and more people that want to use it,” Durgan explains. “I used to call it the sandbox. Well, the sandbox is overflowing with kids that want to play.”
“With all of their toys…” chimes in Val Lyon, like Durgan, a board member of the Newport Harbor Foundation, established in 2019.
By Laylan Connelly – Orange County Register Officials have secured $8.3 million to dredge Newport Harbor in the $14 billion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, but sand replenishment projects for two stretches of Orange County coastline were not included. U.S. Rep. Michelle Steel said dredging of Newport Beach’s harbor is long overdue in her announcement […]
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