Ventura Harbor’s 10-year dredging program approved by Coastal Commission

NEWPORT BEACH — The California Coastal Commission unanimously approved a 10-year dredging maintenance program for Ventura Harbor during the second day of its three-day September meetings at Newport Beach City Hall. The dredging program would be implemented through April 18, 2026 and allow up to 100,000 cubic yards of material to be dredged annually from the inner harbor and another 600,000 cubic yards annually from the outer harbor. Inner harbor dredging would take place within the navigational channels, berthing areas and sand traps; dredged materials would be relocated within the surf zone near the mouth of the Santa Clara River, at three interior depressions within the harbor, and/or the nearshore area of McGrath State Beach. Materials from the entrance channel and offshore sand traps will be deposited along 10,000 feet of beach south of the harbor’s lower jetty and McGrath State Beach, at the surf zone north of the harbor entrance, and/or the nearshore area off San Buenaventura State Beach and just south of Ventura Pier. “The dredging and deposition period is proposed to occur after Labor Day in September until Memorial Day in May of the following year, subject to timing constraints for resource protection. This timing will avoid peak public beach usage...