VENTURA : Panel OKs Loan for Harbor Project

A plan to improve Ventura’s harbor entrance has moved closer to reality with the approval of a $1.6-million loan for a portion of the $7.3-million project.

The California Boating and Waterways Commission approved the state funds for the Ventura Port District at a meeting Friday in El Centro. The money will come from a gas tax paid by California boaters. The remainder of the project’s funding awaits congressional authorization, Richard Parsons, general manager of the district, said.

The plan calls for improvements that would prevent a buildup of sand in the harbor and reduce hefty waves that make the harbor treacherous at times, according to a report on the project.

Under the plan, the south end of the breakwater at the harbor’s entrance would be extended 300 feet to provide more shelter for boats, and the channel entrance would be deepened 20 feet. To keep sand from building up in the channel, a 300-foot spur would be added to the end of the north jetty, and another jetty-like rock structure 650 feet long would be built 1,000 feet from the south jetty.

Hazardous waves about 110 days a year prevent vessels from entering or leaving the harbor, the report says. Since 1982, more than 60 boats have capsized or been damaged, and 11 people have been injured.

The two jetties were built in the early 1960s, Parsons said, and the breakwater was constructed a decade later. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been studying further improvements to the harbor for the past 10 years, he said. The current project was authorized last year, and funding for the design was approved.

If Congress authorizes construction funds, Parsons expects the work to begin during the summer of 1992 and last about eight months.