Channel Islands Harbor

{{Short description|Small craft harbor in Oxnard, California}} {{Use American English|date=September 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2023}} {{Infobox port | name = Channel Islands Harbor | image = Hampton Inn Oxnard Aerial.jpg | image_size = | image_caption = Scene from commercial fishing boat unloading pier facing southeast with hotel in background | country = United States | location = Oxnard, California | coordinates = {{Coord|34.17|-119.225|region:US-CA_type:landmark|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | opened = {{start date and age|1960}} | owner = County of Ventura<ref name=Official>[http://channelislandsharbor.org/about/index.html Channel Islands Harbor Website "About Us/Harbor Information"] Accessed 24 Dec 2013</ref> | type = Artificial | berths = 2,150 | wharfs = | piers = | employees = | revenue = | income = | sizeland = {{convert|126|acre}} | sizewater = {{convert|166|acre}} | leadershiptitle = | leader = | website = {{URL|http://channelislandsharbor.org/}} }}

'''Channel Islands Harbor''' is a small craft harbor<ref>{{Cite book |title=Water resources development by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in California |author=United States Army Corps of Engineers, South Pacific Division |author-link=South Pacific Division |year=1973 |page=89 |publisher=University of California Libraries |isbn=978-1-125-52499-2 }}</ref> and shore-protection project<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 1, 2015 |title=Coastal Engineering Proceedings |url=https://icce-ojs-tamu.tdl.org/icce/index.php/icce |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160317142752/https://icce-ojs-tamu.tdl.org/icce/index.php/icce |archive-date=March 17, 2016}}</ref> 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<ref name=Fodor>{{Cite book |title=Fodor's Southern California |editor1-last=Travis |editor1-first=William |edition=Second |year=2006 |page=[https://archive.org/details/fodorssouthernca00fodo_0/page/385 385] |publisher=Random House |place=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/fodorssouthernca00fodo_0/page/385 |isbn=978-1-4000-1603-7 }}</ref> 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 {{convert|166|acre|km2}} of water surrounded by {{convert|126|acre|km2}} of land<ref>{{Cite web | last = Smith | first = Patricia | title = Channel Islands Harbor Master Plan | year = 1998 | url = http://portal.countyofventura.org/portal/page/portal/harbor/harbor_reports/1998DraftHarborMasterPlan_0.pdf | access-date = 1 May 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111003104730/http://portal.countyofventura.org/portal/page/portal/harbor/harbor_reports/1998DraftHarborMasterPlan_0.pdf | archive-date = 3 October 2011 | url-status = dead }}</ref> and supports more than 2,500 vessels,<ref name=r1/> four yacht clubs, and nine full-service marinas.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Quick escapes Los Angeles: 20 weekend getaways from the metro area |last1=Harris |first1=Elanor |last2=Lichtig |first2=Claudia Harris |edition=7th |year=2006 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/quickescapeslosa00elea/page/124 124] |publisher=Globe Pequot Press |place=Guilford, CT |url=https://archive.org/details/quickescapeslosa00elea/page/124 |isbn=978-0-7627-4219-6 }}</ref> The Channel Islands are a popular destination.<ref name="Fodor" /> 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<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tall Ships Relocate to Channel Islands Harbor Through Feb. 15th |url=https://www.venturaharborvillage.com/tallships/ |access-date=2022-12-29 |website=Ventura Harbor Village |language=en-US}}</ref> which includes between two and five large sailing vessels and draws thousands of visitors.<ref name="r1" />

==History== 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.<ref name=r1>{{Cite book |title=California's coastal parks: a day hiker's guide |last=McKinney |first=John |edition=1st |year=2005 |page=78 |publisher=Wilderness press |place=Berkeley, CA |isbn=0-89997-388-4 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Meyers |first=Jeff |date=1990-11-01 |title=An Era of Sail Lies Anchored in Two Harbors : Boating: Ventura County shoreline took on greater appeal with construction of marinas in Ventura and Oxnard. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-11-01-sp-4739-story.html |access-date=2025-04-14 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Murtaugh |first=Isaiah |date=February 22, 2025 |title=Hueneme Beach dredge nears end with half of original target |url=https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/local/2025/02/22/hueneme-beach-dredge-nears-end/78972823007/ |access-date= |website=Ventura County Star}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=September 10, 2014 |title=Dredging at Channel Islands Harbor will begin Oct. 1 |url=http://www.vcstar.com/news/local-news/port-hueneme/dredging-at-channel-islands-harbor-will-begin-oct-1_19132206 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150721201049/http://www.vcstar.com/news/local-news/port-hueneme/dredging-at-channel-islands-harbor-will-begin-oct-1_19132206 |archive-date=2015-07-21 |access-date= |work=Ventura County Star |language=en-US}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/politics/2019/02/17/ventura-county-maintenance-cost-channel-islands-harbor/2851550002/|title=County stuck with $500K maintenance bill at Channel Islands Harbor|last=Wilson|first=Kathleen|date=February 17, 2019|newspaper=Ventura County Star|language=en|access-date=18 February 2019}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite press release|date=2021-05-19|title=County of Ventura and City of Oxnard Reach Cooperation Agreement for Channel Islands Harbor|url=https://www.channelislandsharbor.org/blog/county-of-ventura-and-city-of-oxnard-reach-cooperation-agreement-for-channel-islands-harbor/|access-date=2021-05-20|publisher=Channel Islands Harbor|language=en-US}}</ref> They also were no longer going to pay the water bills for these facilities.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/2019/03/03/oxnard-city-manager-ventura-county-channel-islands-harbor/2957735002/|title=New Oxnard city manager Alex Nguyen says county's comments on harbor wrong-headed|last=Wilson|first=Kathleen|date=March 3, 2019|newspaper=Ventura County Star|access-date=3 March 2019}}</ref> Oxnard harbor residents also elected to end payments to harbor patrol which ended an annual revenue stream.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/2020/02/29/fireworks-channel-islands-california-the-fourth-of-july/4884064002/|title=With budget slashed, Channel Islands Harbor Fourth of July fireworks show in danger|last=Leung|first=Wendy|date=February 29, 2020|newspaper=Ventura County Star|language=en|access-date=2020-03-02}}</ref> The Mandalay Generating Station closed in 2018 which circulated water as part of the power plant's cooling process.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Varela |first=Brian J. |date=2024-01-06 |title=Residents at odds with Oxnard over water testing costs for Channel Islands Harbor |url=https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/local/2024/01/06/harbor-residents-in-oxnard-bristle-over-water-testing-costs/72062234007/ |access-date=2024-01-06 |newspaper=Ventura County Star |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Operation and facilities== Ventura County Harbor Department patrols the main harbor which is south of the Channel Islands Boulevard bridges. The city of Oxnard maintains the northern neighborhood waterways.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Varela |first=Brian J. |date=January 12, 2023 |title=Rain brings tricky trash problem to Channel Islands Harbor |url=https://www.vcstar.com/story/weather/2023/01/12/southern-california-rain-storm-flooding-trash-pollution-channel-islands-harbor/69786401007/ |access-date=2023-01-17 |newspaper=Ventura County Star |language=en-US}}</ref>

The harbor is part of Ocean Resources Enhancement and Hatchery Program.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Varela |first=Brian J. |date=March 13, 2024 |title=In Channel Islands Harbor, sea bass have a place to grow |url=https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/local/2024/02/13/sea-bass-growing-at-channel-islands-harbor-part-of-state-program-oxnard/72525337007/ |access-date=2024-02-14 |newspaper=Ventura County Star |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Neighborhood and destinations== The harbor waters connect to the north with Mandalay Bay, a residential waterfront development built in 1972 consisting of over 700 boat dock homes. Additional developments expanded the Harbor in the 2000s.<ref>Boyd-Barrett, Claudia (Jun 27, 2014) [http://www.vcstar.com/news/local/oxnard/oxnard-harborarea-residents-push-for-central-authority_00560107 "Oxnard harbor-area residents push for central authority"] ''Ventura County Star''</ref> The development consists of single-family homes and townhouses with reinforced concrete bulkheads lining a series of short navigable canal-like waterways.<ref>{{cite news | title=Oxnard Condo Development to Get Start | newspaper=The Los Angeles Times | publication-place=Los Angeles, California | date=29 March 1987 | page=Section 8 p.14 }}</ref> Between 1950 and 1981 Mandalay Bay was a permitted oil field waste disposal site which caused the release of numerous hazardous chemicals.<ref>Public Meeting Fact Sheet (October 2005) [http://dtsc.ca.gov/SiteCleanup/Projects/upload/Mandalay_FS_dRAP.pdf "Cleanup Proposal for North Shore at Mandalay Bay Site—Oxnard, California"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304053932/http://dtsc.ca.gov/SiteCleanup/Projects/upload/Mandalay_FS_dRAP.pdf |date=2016-03-04 }} State of California Department of Toxic Substances Control. Retrieved 2 August 2014</ref> The records of what was dumped were subsequently lost, resulting in calls for an investigation and millions of dollars in lawsuits from home buyers who were told the area was safe for habitation.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-11-10-me-1999-story.html | work=Los Angeles Times | first=Patrick | last=McCartney | title=Flynn Calls for Mandalay Bay Investigation : Oxnard: At issue is whether all traces of a landfill and oil-waste dump were removed before the waterfront housing was built | date=10 November 1991}}</ref>

The Channel Islands Boating Center opened in 2013.<ref>Biasotti, Tony (Apr 3, 2013) [http://www.vcstar.com/news/much-delayed-channel-islands-boating-center-in "Much-delayed Channel Islands Boating Center opens in Oxnard"] ''Ventura County Star''</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.vcstar.com/news/local/county-balks-at-agreement-for-boating-center-saying-university-operator-has-fallen-short-37ed949f-70-387889902.html |title=County balks at agreement for boating center, saying university operator has fallen short |first=Kathleen |last=Wilson |newspaper=Ventura County Star |date= July 21, 2016|access-date=22 July 2016}}</ref> Great blue herons and white egrets nest in trees around the harbor.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Rivers|first=Kimberly|date=2021-03-18|title=Residents Protect Nesting Birds {{!}} Channel Islands Harbor gathering saves tree used by herons, egrets|url=https://vcreporter.com/2021/03/residents-protect-nesting-birds-channel-islands-harbor-gathering-saves-tree-used-by-herons-egrets/|access-date=2021-03-23|work=VC Reporter |publisher=Times Media Group|language=en-US}}</ref>

{{wide image|CI Harbor Panorama.jpg|860px|Channel Islands Harbor from west side looking east in the late afternoon towards peninsula in center of harbor.|alt=Channel Islands Harbor from west side looking east in the late afternoon towards peninsula in center of harbor}}

==References== <references>

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Category:Ports and harbors of California Category:Transportation buildings and structures in Ventura County, California Category:Channel Islands of California