The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Los Angeles District announced on May 23 it would delay it’s annual maintenance dredging of Oceanside Harbor, typically expected to begin in April.
As USACE reported, the water quality certification used in previous dredging operations expired and a new Section 401 permit was not obtained in order to conduct dredging in May.
The Corps also added that they will coordinate with Oceanside officials to determine if dredging is necessary in the fall or if it should occur in spring 2019.
“ Corps survey crews are monitoring the harbor’s entrance channel to ensure sufficient depth for safe navigation. Plans call for the Corps to work with the Harbor Patrol to do monthly depth checks to monitor the progression of tip shoals that form on the north and south jetties that could encroach on the channel ,” USACE announced.
Oceanside Harbor navigational dredging is an annual project conducted to maintain the federal channel within the harbor at its authorized depth and to provide safe navigation for the recreational, commercial and military vessels that use the channel.
In 2017, Corps contractor Manson Construction successfully removed 440,000 cubic yards of beach quality sand from the harbor and placed it along Oceanside’s beaches. Typical years see an average of about 250,000 cubic yards of dredged material from the harbor.