The channels around the two islands that are protected nesting areas for the endangered California least tern are filled in making the birds and their eggs vulnerable to feral cats. Sediment carried down the Bay and out to the ocean has impacted other habitats and species within the Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve, created navigation problems in the Lower Newport Bay, and has affected the Marine Refuges along the Newport Coast.

The problems caused by the sediment led federal and state agencies to classify it as a pollutant and set requirements to reduce the influx into the Bay. One of these requirements is to provide and maintain a capture basin of specified depth at the entry of San Diego Creek. The existing basin was not very efficient in dropping out sediment and it is now full. Consequently for the last several years large amounts of sediment have carried through and deposited further down the Bay at a rate as high as six inches per year in some places.

The need for a long-term solution was identified in the 1990’s, various studies were performed, and alternate designs proposed. The outcome was a $38.5 million UNB Ecosystem Restoration Project (“dredging project”) to be funded 65% by the federal government and 35% by local partners. The groundbreaking ceremony took place on October 11, 2005. Senator Dianne Feinstein was principal speaker.

In order for the project to be performed efficiently, all of the roughly $13.5 million local share of the funds was committed up-front. Yet only about half of the roughly $25 million federal share has been provided so far, and the crucial main part of the project (the widening and deepening of the capture basin at the entry of San Diego Creek to the Bay) continues to suffer from delays. As a result the total project cost is now estimated at roughly $45 million.

Potentially also, much of the restoration work performed thus far with the local funds will be undone because the much larger and more efficient capture basin will not have been dredged. The recent wildfires that ravaged the foothills of the Newport Bay watershed have left barren hillsides that are prone to mudslide before new vegetation is established. If we have a wet winter in the next several years, a major storm will almost certainly dump a massive amount of sediment into the Bay. This is bad news for the Bay, and a poor way to use tax and bond money.

Senator Feinstein and Congressman Ed Royce have worked hard to include additional funds in the 2008/2009 federal budget. The House Energy and Water appropriations bill included $2 million for Upper Newport Bay Ecosystem Restoration. The Senate version passed on July 10, 2008 included $3 million.  To help fund the additional costs grant applications have been made to the state Wildlife Conservation Board for $4 million and the US Fish and Wildlife Service for $1 million. But this is not nearly enough given the escalating cost of the project. What is most needed is for Congressman John Campbell to champion this project in the House of Representatives. For more information on contacting Congressman Campbell, click here.

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