Channel Islands Harbor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Channel Islands Harbor | |
|---|---|
 Scene from commercial fishing boat unloading pier facing southeast with hotel in background | |
 Interactive map of Channel Islands Harbor | |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| Location | Oxnard, California |
| Coordinates | 34°10′12″N 119°13′30″W / 34.17°N 119.225°W |
| Details | |
| Opened | 1960 |
| Owned by | County of Ventura[1] |
| Type of harbour | Artificial |
| Size of harbour | 166 acres (67 ha) |
| Land area | 126 acres (51 ha) |
| No. of berths | 2,150 |
| Statistics | |
| Website channelislandsharbor | |
Channel Islands Harbor is a small craft harbor[2] and shore-protection project[3] in Oxnard, California at the southern end of the Santa Barbara Channel. It is the fifth largest harbor for small-craft recreation in the state of California[4] and is a waterfront resort, recreation, and dining marketplace. Recreational activities include diving, boat charters, sea kayaking, sportfishing, and whale watching (gray whales January through early April; blue and humpback whales July to September).
The horseshoe shaped harbor contains 166 acres (0.67 km2) of water surrounded by 126 acres (0.51 km2) of land[5] and supports more than 2,500 vessels,[6] four yacht clubs, and nine full-service marinas.[7] The Channel Islands are a popular destination.[4] Island Packers operates a ferry service out of the harbor that accesses Anacapa Island. The Ventura County Maritime Museum has a regularly rotating exhibit, maritime-themed art, and model ships. Every three years the harbor is host to the Channel Islands Tall Ships Festival[8] which includes between two and five large sailing vessels and draws thousands of visitors.[6]
The US Army Corps of Engineers formed the harbor in 1960 by scooping out sand dunes and wetlands at the edge of Oxnard Plain and depositing the surplus sand at the nearby beaches of Port Hueneme.[6] The sand trap at the harbor entrance was designed to retain sand that otherwise might be diverted into the ocean due to the impacts of the construction of the Port of Hueneme.[9] The sand was to be regularly dredged and placed on Hueneme Beach which suffers erosion due to the port blocking the littoral drift of sand.[10][11]
While the County of Ventura arranged to oversee the harbor and manage it in 1963, they formed an agreement with the City of Oxnard to annex the then vacant county land and provide sewage service, water and utilities. The city built the infrastructure and under the agreement began to receive sales, property and lodging tax revenues.[12] After the annexation agreement between the county and city had expired, the city stopped keeping up the parks, parking lots and restrooms in public areas in 2018.[13] They also were no longer going to pay the water bills for these facilities.[14] Oxnard harbor residents also elected to end payments to harbor patrol which ended an annual revenue stream.[15] The Mandalay Generating Station closed in 2018 which circulated water as part of the power plant's cooling process.[16]
