Channel Islands Harbor dredging starts soon

Navigating the Channel Islands Harbor will continue to be safe and downcoast beaches will receive an influx of much-needed sand thanks to a dredging project that will soon be underway.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is on schedule to start dredging the Channel Islands Harbor in the following days.

Equipment has already been staged at the Harbor’s Hobie Beach.

The hydraulic dredge “H.R. Morris” will be staging and conducting maintenance dredging of the Channel Islands Harbor entrance on a 24-hour basis. The dredging activity will be taking place in various locations in and around the harbor entrance and sand trap area.

USACE typically dredges every two years under legislation that authorized the small craft harbor and sand trap to be built in the early 1960s.

The harbor was designed to trap sand to prevent loss to the submarine canyon off Port Hueneme and to provide dredged material for beach replenishment for downcoast beaches.

The replenishment provides vital shore protection for downcoast facilities, including the Naval installations at Port Hueneme and Point Mugu, the Port of Hueneme, and City of Port Hueneme.

It is estimated approximately 2.5 million cubic yards of sand will be pumped from the harbor down to the beach at Port Hueneme, which erodes over time due to normal sand migration along the coast.

The last time the harbor was dredged was December 2020 to February 2021.

The dredging project will be complete in February 2023.