District Expedites Harbor Dredging
Up to $400,000 will be spent to dredge Ventura Harbor in coming months, action taken in response to an emergency declared by the Ventura Port District.
District officials declared the emergency Thursday after five squid boats ran aground in the past two months.
The emergency allows the district to contract for the work without going out to bid, a process that takes several months and would most likely delay the job until next year.
The five squid boats were not damaged and did not cause any accidents, but the port’s dredging manager, Richard Parsons, said there could be serious consequences if the problem is not resolved.
“If we have to wait another year to dredge, a boat might get grounded and if it stopped another boat could run into it,” he said.
Some parts of the channel have not been dredged for 13 years, he said. The dredging should remove 3 to 6 feet of silt, sand and mud.
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