Plan to Ease Flood Danger at Little Tujunga Wash Outlined

Representatives of four governmental bodies met Wednesday night with northeast San Fernando Valley homeowners to present plans for an emergency project to reduce the flood danger to buildings and two bridges at Little Tujunga Canyon Wash.

If the work is not completed within three months, 24 homes in Lake View Terrace and a city-operated gym in the Hansen Dam area could be flooded during the winter rainy season, even with average rainfall, according to Los Angeles Councilman Howard Finn, who represents the East Valley. The Foothill Freeway and Foothill Boulevard bridges at the wash also could be weakened, he said.

The $600,000 project will be funded by $150,000 each from the U.S Army Corps of Engineers, the California Department of Transportation, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works and the City of Los Angeles.

The Department of Public Works’ Flood Control District will coordinate the two-month project, which must begin no later than Sept. 1 to beat the rainy season, officials said.

‘Not Home Free Yet’

“It’s pretty unusual to get all the agencies together on one project like this,” said Jim Easton, chief deputy director for the Public Works Department. “But we are not home free yet.”

Easton said an inter-agency agreement must be drafted and rushed through the different bureaucracies for approval.

“We cannot do this work in stages over a period of time without causing more damage,” he said. “If we can’t get started this summer, we will have to wait until next year. We would be asking for trouble if we were working in the wash during the rainy season.”

The Los Angeles City Council last week approved its share of the project cost. And Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sepulveda) told the gathering at the Lake View Terrace Recreation Center Wednesday that Caltrans is committed to its share.

60 Area Residents Attend

Attending the meeting were about 60 residents of the Clybourn Avenue area of Lake View Terrace, where homes are threatened with flood damage because of sediment buildup at the nearby wash. The recreation center is also threatened.

Caltrans officials said the bridges are in danger because previous sediment removal in the wash created irregularities in the stream bed that upset the natural water flow. That caused water and sediment to back up just south of the bridges, the officials said.

The bases of the bridges show signs of corrosion, although the problem is not serious enough to warrant closures or decreased use, they added.