Week in Review : Major Events, Images and People in Orange County News : COUNTYWIDE : Santa Ana River Flood Work in Bill Passed by Senate

Good news from Washington for Orange County residents worried about the next big Santa Ana River flood:

The Senate passed a $12-billion public works bill that contains $1.087 billion to rework the river and minimize the danger of such a catastrophic flood. Senate and House of Representatives public works committees now must reconcile their versions of the bill.

The Army Corps of Engineers has classified the river the most serious flood threat west of the Mississippi River. A major flood along its heavily populated banks in Orange County would cause 3,000 deaths and $14 billion in property damage, the corps estimates.

The appropriation would be used to widen and deepen the river in Orange County, to increase the height of Prado Dam near Corona and to build a new dam north of Mentone in San Bernardino County, where the river originates.

For two decades, authorities have been debating how to overhaul the river and how to finance such a project. James McConnell, Orange County’s Washington lobbyist, said the money may finally be appropriated if House members are willing to reduce the size of the House version of the bill to an amount that President Reagan will approve. The House version appropriates $20 billion.

“It’s going to be a very fine line that the House members are going to walk there,” McConnell said.