Approved funding for the San Luis Obispo County Jail Security System and Project Morro Bay Harbor dredging was announced yesterday by the San Luis Obispo-area Representative Salud Carbajal. The funding was approved by Congress and signed into law.
The funding was secured through the Fiscal Year 2026 government funding bill, granting $1,031,000 for jail security and $4,120,000 to Morro Bay Harbor’s annual dredging. During dredging, bodies of water are made deeper by removing rock, silt and other matter from their floor as a part of efforts to keep the harbor navigable.
The San Luis Obispo County Jail Security System Project will update the surveillance system established in 2014. According to a press release from Rep. Salud Carbajal’s website, the project “includes video surveillance, door controls, and intercoms for both the San Luis Obispo County Jail and the Honor Farm.”
The San Luis Obispo County Honor Farm is a correctional facility for “low-level, non-violent offenders who work off their time or attend school programs that benefit them when they get out of custody,” said Correctional Sgt. Stephanie Landgraf in a video on the County of SLO YouTube channel.
In the press release Carbajal wrote “It would be difficult to overstate the importance of the annual dredging project for the economic strength of Morro Bay and broader San Luis Obispo County. The project not only ensures successful maritime navigation but is foundational to maintaining the vitality of local tourism, recreational boating, and waterfront businesses.”
Carbajal submitted formal requests to the House Appropriations Committee for Fiscal Year 2026 in spring of 2025.