In the Red: Harbors and Waterways Revolving Fund teetered on insolvency

STATEWIDE—California’s fund to support boating infrastructure and activities is in the red and was recently on the verge of going under entirely. Efforts to resuscitate the Harbors and Watercraft Revolving Fund, however, appear to be underway in earnest, according to California State Parks Director Lisa Mangat and Division of Boating and Waterways (DBW) staff. The Harbors and Watercraft Revolving Fund, which replaced the Small Craft Harbor Revolving Fund, helps pay for things such as facilities development, boating safety and regulation programs. Signage, loans, ramp repair and boat launch projects are also supported by the fund. Mangat and DBW staff spoke about the fund at the May 30 DBW Commission meeting. DBW staff is looking ahead to 2020 budget and hoping to find solutions to save the fund from insolvency. State officials appear to be willing to listen to as much public input as they can, meaning boaters could influence how the Harbors and Watercraft Revolving Fund is managed and whether new funding would be available to boating communities throughout the 2020s and beyond. “We have not yet determined the long-term solution to that will set the fund on a path to solvency, we have put in place a few short-term measures that would...