Could you summarize the impact that the construction of the Port of Hueneme had on the beaches to the south, and the current effort to replenish them? Answer according to: When the Port of Hueneme was built in the late 1930s, it disrupted the flow of sand to beaches to the south. The effort to replenish them has started.
When the Port of Hueneme was built in the late 1930s, it disrupted the flow of sand to beaches to the south. That means every two years and often less, depending on recent weather events, the coastline shrinks.
“You get some severe erosion and we lose a good portion of our beach, especially at the far end of the promenade,” said Don Villafana, the public works director for the city of Port Hueneme.
To beef it up, the Army Corps of Engineers recently began the process of moving 1.8 million cubic yards of sand from the Channel Islands Harbor canyon to Port Hueneme’s coastline.
The work is happening from Market Street at Surfside Drive to the lighthouse, Villafana said. That portion will be closed through March.
The Army Corps handles the project, which is federally funded, because the Navy took over the port in 1945. The dredging ideally would happen every two to three years but that’s dependent on federal funding, Villafana said.
How much is dredged also varies, depending on funding. In 2014-15, the Army Corps moved 2.8 million cubic yards of sand; in 2016, it moved 1.5 million cubic yards.
The work starts with laying pipeline from north of the harbor to a pipeline bound for Hueneme Beach, Villafana said.
The promenade is a popular place for cyclists, joggers and others.
"A number of people like to use that for their morning walk or daily walk but for safety reasons they’re not able to do that,” Villafana said.
City Council member Tom Figg has said that city beaches are being shortchanged and that less money has been allocated over the years than the costs to do the work. He estimated the work to cost around $2.5 million, but the project has gotten significantly less than that, he told The Star in 2016.
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