Alternate Santa Ana River Flood-Control Plan Backed
An alternative plan for part of the Santa Ana River flood-control project was endorsed this week by San Bernardino and Riverside counties’ boards of supervisors.
The revised plan drafted by the Army Corps of Engineers calls for building a 550-foot, $304-million dam further upstream in the San Bernardino Mountains to satisfy complaints from officials and residents who oppose its construction in Mentone, corps spokesman Larry Hawthorne said.
The plan would cost an estimated $200 million less than the Mentone Dam project, which drew protests from residents who said the dam would be vulnerable to earthquakes and could threaten water conservation projects.
The corps requested an endorsement of its draft study from Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Orange County approved the project on Oct. 8.
The dam is part of a $1.3-billion project to protect the counties from a major flood predicted to occur once every 100 years.
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