Muck-Raking

It looks a little like a stand-in for Godzilla, but the gigantic dredge plying the brackish waters of Upper Newport Bay is the best thing to happen to the endangered wetland in years.

With steel jaws gobbling up four and five yards of silt in a bite, the dredger is bringing relief to the mud-clogged wildlife refuge, home port for scores of bird and fish species.

The long-term health of the upper bay, however, depends as much on lawmakers in Sacramento as on mammoth machines.

While the state budget includes money to finance the $7.4-million dredging project now underway, nagging questions remain about the bay’s future.

There is no stopping the continual cascade of silt from San Diego Creek and smaller tributaries that flow into the upper bay. Last winter, El Nino made matters even worse. And when the dredges leave late this year, Mother Nature will resume her quest to fill in the shallow estuary.

A periodic dredging program is considered essential to maintain the abundance of water that keeps fish and birds healthy and happy. But getting money for the work is always a struggle.

The current dredging work, for instance, is the first in a decade and comes at least two years later than local officials wanted. Without the dredging, said Assemblywoman Marilyn C. Brewer (R-Newport Beach), the wetland was “in danger of becoming a meadow.”

Newport’s upper bay isn’t the only spot on California’s shoreline plagued by heavy siltation. Blockbuster winter storms increased the flow into harbors and bays up and down the state, and with it came an increased load of sediment.

Among the hardest hit was Moss Landing in Monterey Bay, where the harbor was hammered by silt and authorities have sought federal funds to pay for dredging. Ventura Harbor also had problems as heavy rains soaked adjacent agriculture fields and sent mud cascading into the brine.

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To help overcome the continual money woes that have plagued Upper Newport Bay, Senate GOP Leader Ross Johnson (R-Irvine) is pushing a bill that would set aside $400,000 annually in state funds to help pay for dredging, which is needed about every five years. With only a few more legislative hurdles, the measure’s prospects look good.

Even if Johnson’s bill is signed into law, there are no guarantees the money will always be there. Sacramento politicians have an uncanny tendency to raid such funds when the economy sours and tax revenue dwindles.

But Orange County officials are happy to see at least a promise of future help.

“Every five or 10 years we have to scramble for money to dredge,” said Dave Kiff, assistant to the city manager in Newport Beach. “This will give us a great start. It’s a major step forward.”

The 752-acre bay is one of the prime wetlands along the California coast, serving as a spawning ground for scores of marine species and hosting numerous types of birds.

As the mud builds up on the bottom, the bay ecosystem changes dramatically. Suddenly birds and fish that prefer deep water find themselves hurting for habitat.

The upper bay serves as a spawning ground for 78 species of marine life, including the California halibut and white sea bass. It also is a playground for 165 species of birds, including the light-footed clapper rail, which is more populous in Newport Bay than anywhere in the United States.

But the dredging work is benefiting more than just the birds.

Silt that flows out of the upper bay has caused problems in the back reaches of Newport Harbor. Some channels have filled to such an extent that lumbering cabin cruisers have a hard time navigating out to sea.

Near the mouth of the upper bay, the silt has built up so much that the 200-foot faux paddle wheeler housing the Newport Nautical Heritage Museum sits aground at low tide. The boat, dubbed The Pride of Newport, isn’t handling that predicament particularly well.

“Boats aren’t meant to sit on the ground. Houses sit on the ground. Boats float,” said Sheli Smith, the museum’s director. “With the stern aground, it’s putting structural stress on our bow.”

Relief is in sight. This fall, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will shepherd a $1.5-million dredging project to clear the harbor channels.

That effort is dwarfed by the work in Newport’s upper bay.

As originally envisioned, 800,000 cubic yards of mud was to be removed from the bay. But with El Nino, the heavy flow of water into the bay dumped an extra 200,000 to 300,000 cubic yards of silt, just as the dredging got underway.

The extra muck boosted the project’s price tag by $2 million and put the work weeks behind schedule. During several storms, the dredges were relegated to the calm eddies at the bay’s edge to escape fierce currents as storm water fought its way to the sea.

The dredging contractor, Newport Beach-based Soli-Flo, has been playing catch-up but expects to complete the project this year, said Larry Paul, Orange County’s coastal facilities manager.

When the work is done, the upper bay should be in better shape than ever.

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Saving the Bay

Slowed by winter storms, dredging to deepen Upper Newport Bay is catching up. San Diego Creek and other tributaries have dumped more than 1 million cubic yards of silt into the shallow bay, creating problems for wildlife and boaters.

Source: Orange County Department of Harbors, Beaches and Parks