Back Bay needs Newport’s support

Letter-writers of Newport Beach need to unite for the sake of the

city’s most prized ecological treasure.

Upper Newport Bay is in serious trouble again, this time thanks to

a fine-print cut in President Bush’s budget. “Wow” was the only word

Mayor Tod Ridgeway could muster to describe the $8 million counted on

for dredging the bay that’s no longer there.

Newport Beach’s congressman repeatedly has gone to bat for

environmental and water-quality causes, and it’s time to ask -- or

even beg -- Rep. Chris Cox to find some money yet again.

Cox has gotten about $3.3 million in federal dollars for Newport

Bay projects since 1998, so we know he’s paying close attention to

this issue. City officials have said they’re looking to Cox for help,

but those whom our officials represent should join in and not stop at

Newport Beach; George Bush has a mailing address too: The White

House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, D.C. 20500. Let him know,

repeatedly, how important Upper Newport Bay is.

Half-hearted efforts to dredge the Back Bay have been done before.

It was tried in 1998, but officials ran out of money before the

necessary work could be done. A $38-million dredging project that’s

expected to last years is underway, but Bush’s budget shows early on

that there will only be enough for another incomplete effort.

Daily Pilot photographer Kent Treptow spent about a year putting

together a complete Upper Newport Bay project that culminated on Jan.

21 in a special section of the Pilot. Those who saw his finished

project know his patience to do the job right was worth it. Let’s

hope the pictures of animals and scenery unique to Upper Newport Bay

don’t end up mere memories.

This is an issue serving as a reminder that the stroke of a pen in

Washington, D.C. can adversely affect a community about 2,600 miles

away. It’s a reminder that we always need to be paying attention to

the decisions our representatives -- whether they’re sitting in local

council chambers’ or the Oval Office -- are making. After all, we’re

the ones who put them there.

Cox can be reached at the 48th District, 1 Newport Place, Suite

1010, Newport Beach, CA 92660, (949) 756-2244; or at 2402 Rayburn

Building, Washington, D.C. 20515, (202) 225-5611; or by fax at (949)

251-9309.

Officials know best how you feel when you tell them -- repeatedly.