Current Project Status - updated regularly

Newport Harbor is one of the largest recreational harbors in the United States. Natural processes result in the movement and accumulation of sediment which must be dredged periodically to maintain channel depth for safe navigation. The Federal Channels of Newport Harbor begin at the harbor’s Entrance Channel then proceed up the Main Channel leading directly to the Turning Basin at the Newport Boulevard bridge. In addition, there are several offshoots from the Main Channel to smaller channels. The Federal Channels are maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The remainder of the harbor is managed and maintained by the City of Newport Beach, County of Orange or other private entities.

Current Project:

For a current status of the project, please click here. (Insert the same hyperlink as above.)

The USACE is preparing to dredge the Federal Channels commencing on December 2, 2025.

USACE conducts annual bathymetric (depth) surveys to determine the amount of sediment that has accumulated in the Federal Channels and to assess the overall need for maintenance dredging. The goal of the project is to dredge the channels to their federally authorized depths. Approximately 900,000 cubic yards of material will be dredged over about 10 months.

The City has been an active partner with USACE and has contributed to the planning and design efforts as well as funding a significant portion of the project via a cost-sharing agreement with the federal government. The County will also be contributing funds for the portion of the project within County tidelands.

Recent sediment sampling between 2018 – 2024 was conducted to define the sediment characteristics so disposal options could be evaluated. This sampling effort determined that most of the material was deemed suitable for disposal at the federally permitted open ocean location referred to as “LA-3”.

Dredging in the Main Channel and channel offshoots will expose some sediment that has been determined to be unsuitable for open ocean disposal and therefore requires an alternate disposal location.

To that end, the Lower Newport Bay dredging project will repurpose that dredged sediment unsuitable for open ocean disposal at the Port of Long Beach’s Pier G Slip Fill project, representing a unique and regionally beneficial solution. The material will be encapsulated within an existing slip to create additional shipping container storage.

For the current status of the Lower Newport Bay Dredging Project, click here.