Subcommittee Earmarks $2.6 Million : Funds Restored for Oceanside Dredging

A key congressional subcommittee Wednesday restored funding for an experimental Oceanside system designed to replenish sand on eroding beaches that was jeopardized by proposed federal budget cuts.

The House Energy and Water Appropriations subcommittee included $2.6 million in its $19-billion proposed budget for the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, said a spokeswoman for Rep. Bill Lowery (R-San Diego).

Besides setting money aside for the sand-bypass system, the subcommittee also budgeted nearly $12 million for other North County water projects, such as the San Luis Rey River flood control project and an extensive storm and tidal wave study.

The appropriations bill also places a moratorium on off-shore oil exploration along the California coast between Oct. 1, 1989, and Oct. 1, 1990, according to Rep. Ron Packard (R-Carlsbad). If approved, such an action will extend an existing moratorium that expires at the end of this year, Packard added.

“Both the moratorium and the funding for the projects are absolutely critical,” Packard said Wednesday in a telephone interview from Washington, D.C. “There’s still a long way to go before the President signs the bill, but I have strong hopes that we can keep these items in.”

Feels Confident

The appropriations bill next goes before the Energy and Water Appropriations committee. It must also receive approval from both the House and the Senate before it can be submitted to the President, who must sign the bill by Sept. 15.

“I feel confident that it’ll be approved by the full committee and the House,” Packard said. “It would be very unusual for such specific items to be taken out after they’ve been recommended by the subcommittee members, who are considered the experts. The biggest problem will be at the Senate.”

Upon hearing news of the allocation, Oceanside officials expressed both delight and relief. The federal government had spent nearly $12 million since 1982 on the much-beleaguered project before the Bush Administration in February proposed budget cuts that threatened to kill the innovative system.

The bypass system was designed as an alternative to costly dredging, and would use jet pumps to suck sand from Oceanside Municipal Harbor’s silt-clogged entrance channel and dump it on beaches.

Oceanside officials criticized the proposed federal cuts, calling them “ludicrous.”

Without the federal funds, the system that passed initial operational tests last week would have been abandoned in October, start of the next fiscal year.

“If Congress hadn’t taken the steps to restore the funds, the pumps would have been shut down by the end of September, or even earlier,” said Dana Whitson, the city’s special projects director. “After spending $12 million, they would have mothballed and dismantled it.”

The fiscal cuts were first proposed by the federal Office of Management and Budget. As a cost-saving measure to reduce the Army Corps of Engineers’ budget, the OMB decided to eliminate the Corps’ operation and maintenance account for harbors with less than 25,000 tons of commercial activity a year, Whitson said.

Wanted $5 Million

The city was expecting to receive nearly $5 million from the account to finance the sand-bypass project and dredging operations, Whitson said.

Outraged city officials, including Mayor Larry Bagley and City Manager Ron Bradley,lobbied in Washington to have the funds restored.

Officials argued that the proposed cuts unfairly penalized the sand-bypass project, which they claim never should have been funded through the Corps’ operation and maintenance account.

Typically, a project requiring substantial capital and construction is financed through the Corps’ construction account, Whitson said.

But, because the project was considered an alternative to dredging--and therefore a maintenance operation--it was budgeted under the operation and maintenance account, Whitson said.

Although the subcommittee’s action only restores $2.6 million--far short of the city’s request for the project--Oceanside officials were grateful for the amount they may receive.

‘A Major Step’

“This is a major step,” Whitson said. “We’re happy that we got that much. I’m sure a lot of other projects came away with nothing. We’re just hopeful the Senate will go along.”

Added Packard: “The administration had zeroed out all sand-bypass monies. By subcommittee action we put $2.6 million back in. We’re not all the way there, but at least it can keep the project moving.”

City and local congressional officials argue that the project should be financed so that it can be 100% operational, because, if successful, it can be used as a cheap alternative to dredging.

“This experimental system is important not only for Oceanside and North County, but for the nation’s harbors that suffer from similar problems,” Whitson said. “It’ll be more cost effective than dredging. Ultimately, it could save the government lots of money.”