Flood Peril Deserves Immediate Attention

The Santa Ana River, identified by U.S. Army engineers as the worst flood threat west of the Mississippi, has survived another winter rainy season. But how many more rainstorms and potential disasters will Congress court before it begins to fund long-planned improvements to avoid the devastating losses of life and property that engineers warn will surely come without those changes?

No one knows when a major storm will hit, and that means it is all the more vital to proceed as rapidly as possible with flood-control measures. In not giving the Santa Ana River project the high priority it deserves, Congress is thinking like the man who fell out of a 30th-floor window and remarked as he passed the 15th floor, “So far, so good. “

Local and federal officials have been working to develop and launch a flood-control project on the Santa Ana River, which runs from Big Bear to the Pacific Ocean, for more than 20 years. During that time, extensive development along the river has increased the potential for loss of life and property to the county when the major flood that experts believe is overdue finally becomes a reality.

Army engineers estimate that without the needed improvements, the river will breach its banks, putting parts of 10 low-lying Orange County cities under water. As many as 3,000 lives could be lost, and, experts predict, damage could exceed $14 billion.

Those are frightening figures. The peril they describe cannot be ignored any longer. Further delay not only flirts with increasing the danger and loss but also involves a rise in improvement costs. In 1975 the estimated cost was $504 million; it has soared to about $1.3 billion now.

Orange County officials and Congress members last year thought the track was clear for financing. President Reagan had included $20 million in his budget proposal. But Congress scuttled all new water and flood control projects.

Reagan put the request for “seed” money to begin land acquisition back into the proposed budget he left behind last January, and President Bush left the request in his budget proposal.

Once again, funding for the Santa Ana River Flood Control Project is before Congress. House and Senate subcommittees on energy and water development on Wednesday heard testimony from county representatives, and they will be making their recommendation to the full committees. The money should be allocated.

Each phase of the river improvement plan has been bogged down in delays and bureaucratic red tape. Actual construction should have started years ago. It is time for Congress to put the program on the fast track. The longer it delays improving the damming and channeling of the river’s rainwater, the longer it exposes residents in Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties to a deadly and preventable risk.