With some boats sitting on the mud during minus tides, Noyo Harbor District would really like to dredge the mooring basin this year. But that looks unlikely, after a special district meeting last week found more questions than answers and not enough time left before fall to get everything done.
Commissioners debated many questions remaining about needed state and federal funding, finding there are too many uncertainties for harbor dredging to be likely this year. Worse, there is no assurance that appeals will be settled and plans would be approved for next year.
Commissioners decided to put out to bid the moving of 14,000 cubic yards of dredge spoils piled from the mouth of Noyo Harbor just northeast of the public beach. The move was despite the fact there is only money right now to move about 8,500 cubic yards worth. Two landfills in the North Bay and an Indian tribe in Round Valley are expected to bid on the moving project. But moving the spoils won”t allow dredging.
More than 30,000 cubic yards must be removed from the massive pile before dredging of either the river or mooring basin can occur again.
The district is hoping federal and state funding will finally come through to allow the district to move an additional 33,000 cubic yards of fill. The district has been awaiting notification of an appeal filed in September 2010 for federal and state emergency funding payment to move the material. The district lost out on emergency funds when an application became misplaced somewhere in the process involving the state Emergency Management Agency and Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Harbor District Manager Jere Klenbach.
Klenbach said Congressman Mike Thompson has written to FEMA about the problem. Barbara Boxer”s office has also been involved.
But even if the district is granted the funds, getting the work done in time will be difficult.
It all means it”s doubtful that the mooring basin will be dredged this year, as hoped, even if the money for removing the additional dirt is approved right away.
“We may not see the money for 90 days, which puts us out of the window for dredging this year,” Klenbach said.
The mooring basin generates about 50,000 cubic yards of dredge material each time it is dredged, according to a federal website. Noyo Harbor District is in charge of dredging the mooring basin. Separately, the river is dredged regularly by the federal government. The district is tasked with finding a disposal site for those tailings, but not to do the actual work. The river channel generates between 10,000 ? 30,000 cubic yards per dredge.
Cumulatively, the harbor district estimates that it needs a disposal site for about 45,000 to 50,000 cubic yards of material every two years.
