The Port San Luis breakwater and Morro Bay are getting some necessary improvements in the next few months to be better equipped to face big ocean waves.
California Representative Salud Carbajal (D-24) announced that he secured more than $4.1 million in funding that will go towards the two San Luis Obispo County harbor construction projects. Of that funding, $23,000 will be used for maintenance on the breakwater and $4,144,000 will go to the Morro Bay Harbor and its annual dredging project, according to a press release.
Morro Bay Harbor Director Chris Munson explained himself and Morro Bay’s delegation along with representatives of harbors throughout the state met with US Army Corps of Engineers and members of Congress to lobby for continued dredge funding.
“During the trip, we met with Congressman Carbajal,” Munson said, “[he] has been a key ally in the continued funding of Morro Bay dredging and across the Central Coast.”
This year’s dredging is scheduled to take place from the beginning of May and end at the beginning of June, Munson said. The dredging boat, Yaquina, will be back for another year of work. There aren’t any car or foot traffic delays expected to be caused by the project.
Morro Bay Harbor is famous for being the yard-round home of sea otters, sea lions and California sea lions. Dredging has been known to disrupt the habitats of animals by bringing up sediment, making it harder to find food, and destroying kelp and sea grass, according to the National Academy of Science.
“The US Army Corps of Engineers biology team regularly evaluates and monitors the dredging project,” Munson wrote in an email to Mustang News. “They avoid or mitigate for impacts to such things as eelgrass, otters, salmon, and other sensitive species.”
The US Army Corps of Engineers built the harbor during World War II as a stop for coastal commercial ships. However, it was quite difficult to leave the harbor due to the large waves. Harbor Director Munson said that two incidents in particular inspired USACE to dredge the harbor more regularly.
In January 1978, actor George C. Scott’s 84-foot-long yacht capsized after facing giant waves just outside of the harbor. Scott was rescued by the coast guard along with the skipper and his wife. In 1983, a whale-watching boat capsized with 23 high school students from Paso Robles aboard after being struck by 25-foot waves.
The California Maritime Affairs and Navigation Conference is held yearly in Washington D.C. where delegations from cities across California meet to discuss funding.
According to a separate press release, Carbajal was able to procure $6.15 million in funding to dredging the Santa Barbara Harbor after it had been discontinued in February due to federal budget cuts.