Federal funding has been allocated for a fall dredging of the Oceanside Harbor, which will be the second dredging this year and will allow the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to transition the annual maintenance to a fall schedule.
“I’m proud to have secured over $8.2 million in new federal funding to ensure the Oceanside Harbor continues to be a lifeline for our commercial users, our military, and the surrounding community,” said Rep. Mike Levin, D-San Juan Capistrano, in a news announcement Monday.
“Regular dredge work is critical to keeping the harbor open,” Levin said. “This funding will ensure that all of those who use this harbor are able to do so safely.”
For decades, the harbor entrance has been dredged each year in the spring, usually finishing in time to leave a fresh coat of sand on Oceanside’s nearby beaches in time for the Memorial Day weekend.
However, the Corps of Engineers, the city and marine experts say an increasing number of studies and observations show that September or October might be a better time for the annual maintenance.
Sand taken from the harbor and placed on the beaches will stay there longer, the studies show. Instead of being pushed back into the harbor, the sand will be carried south to the more eroded parts of the coastline where it is needed.
“Spring dredging and near-harbor placement (of the sand) are poorly aligned with the dominant sediment transport processes,” said coastal engineer Christopher O’Day, of the Carlsbad consulting firm Moffat & Nichol, in a letter to the city earlier this year.
A few people continue to doubt the benefits of a change. Longtime resident Carolyn Krammer, a member of the city’s Harbor and Beaches Advisory Committee, said in February that the established schedule is better for summer programs such as surfing competition and junior lifeguard training.
City officials have said they can always return to the old schedule if the new one proves unsuccessful.
The city’s beaches have been shrinking for so long it’s time to try something, they said. The new schedule is one of several beach improvement and restoration projects the city is pursuing.
Oceanside’s City Council declared a local emergency last November after sediment reduced the depth of the harbor’s main channel to as little 10 feet, creating a navigation hazard.
The declaration came after at least two boats capsized near the harbor entrance in the previous month. The city was unable to obtain the early dredging it requested, but the infill slowed and boaters continued to use the entrance with caution. Dredging finally began early this month and is expected to conclude in early May.
The most recent boating mishap occurred Saturday evening when a sailboat overturned in hazardous conditions and went onto the rocks of the jetty near the entrance.
Oceanside Fire Department lifeguards rescued two people from the water. One of whom was taken to a hospital with injuries and the other did not require treatment.
Dredging restores the main entrance channel to a depth of 25 feet or more. The greater depth reduces the size of waves entering the harbor and makes it more navigable.
Oceanside has the only harbor between San Diego and Dana Point in Orange County. Its entrance serves recreational and commercial users in Oceanside, as well as military vessels entering and exiting the small, separate harbor often called a “boat basin” at Camp Pendleton.
Oceanside’s harbor was built in the 1960s. It shares an entrance with the Camp Pendleton marina built in 1942 at the outset of World War II.