Congress OKs Funding Bill for Lake at Hansen Dam : $780,000 Would Be Added to Money Expected From State

A bill appropriating $780,000 to restore a long-lost lake and recreational facilities at Hansen Dam in the northeast San Fernando Valley has been passed by Congress and awaits President Bush’s signature.

Another $475,000 for the project was approved by the state Legislature this month and sent to Gov. George Deukmejian. Those funds, initially included in a bill vetoed by Deukmejian in July, were inserted by Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar) in a revised spending measure that the governor is expected to sign.

The federal and state money would pay for taking the first step to create at least one lake for swimming, fishing and boating, as well as picnic areas, playgrounds, and, possibly, hiking and horse trails in a lower-income area populated heavily by minorities.

Residents of the area have complained bitterly that Hansen Dam has been long neglected by government officials.

“It’s good to finally see some action,” said Lewis Snow, vice president of the Lake View Home Owners Assn. “I view the restoration of the lake as the keystone of the area’s renaissance.”

Master Plan

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which owns the 1,540-acre area, is preparing a master plan for future development in the Hansen Dam Flood Control Basin. The Corps, which has been working with a community advisory committee appointed by Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City), is expected to complete its draft proposal and an environmental impact statement in November.

Snow, a member of the Hansen Dam Trust Fund Advisory Board, said some members of the board expressed preference for a proposal calling for eventual creation of two reservoirs--a 20-acre lake at an elevated site near Foothill Boulevard and Osborne Street with a stream running down to a second 80-acre lake near an existing sports center.

The $780,000 in federal funds could be used for an 8- to 10-acre starter lake that would be finished by the end of 1990, Snow said, and the $475,000 in state funds might double the size of the initial lake.

The Corps expects, however, that a large portion of the initial funding would be needed for plans and specifications, and it is unclear how much would remain for construction, said Corps spokeswoman Mary O’Keeffe.

Funding Expected

The federal funding was expected. It represents the monies that have accrued in a 3-year-old federal trust fund generated by fees paid by contractor Bill Blomgren. In 1984, Blomgren signed a five-year contract with the Corps to dig out silt in flood-control channels for sale to construction firms. He pays the government 15 to 25 cents for each ton removed.

The master plan is being completed with $200,000 in trust fund proceeds appropriated by Congress last year. The $780,000 for fiscal year 1990 was inserted by Berman in the energy and water development appropriations bill that Congress sent to the President within the past week. Blomgren’s dredging is expected to generate additional funds in the future.

“We’re talking about the first step,” said Phyllis Hines, Lake View Terrace Improvement Assn. land use co-chairman. “But we plan to go forward.”

Residents of Lake View Terrace, Pacoima and Sylmar have been critical of the Corps and the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks in the 15 years since the lake was filled in by sediment. In April, the Corps ordered that a small lake dug out by Blomgren should be filled in because officials deemed it unfit for swimming and fishing and a community hazard.

The original 130-acre lake opened in 1949 and flourished for 25 years with a sandy beach, boat ramp and grassy picnic area. But flooding in 1969 left it inundated with debris and sediment. A 1975 fire wiped out canyon vegetation and increased the erosion rate. The original lake’s death knell was sounded in 1981 and 1982 when heavy rains produced more sediment.

Corps officials said the lake’s demise was expected, if premature. The flood-control basin was built in 1940 to control waters and collect silt from the worst rainstorm that could be expected in 50 years. Thus, the lake was expected to last only until 1990.

For that reason, Snow said the Corps proposes to move the site of the new lakes to higher elevations to avoid a repetition of the silt problem. O’Keeffe of the Corps said she could not discuss the plan’s specifics until it is completed.

Land-Swap Bill

Berman, whose 26th District includes the dam, is seeking far greater long-range funding for lake restoration and recreation at the site through a complex land-swap bill calling for establishment of a garbage dump in Elsmere Canyon. Under the measure, which has been tabled until next year, a portion of the amount paid by dump users would go to Hansen Dam. Berman has proposed fees that would generate $300 million over the 50-year life of the landfill.

Hopes for the area have been dashed before, however.

When the Corps agreed in May, 1988, to develop a master plan financed by $200,000 from the federal trust fund, Berman proclaimed that residents could expect a 20-acre lake by the end of 1989. The result was the algae-filled pond deemed unhealthy by the Corps in April.

Berman was more circumspect Thursday about the $780,000.

“I believe that money would take us a long way toward doing a few of the things that we want to do,” he said, “but nowhere near completing my idea of what a total recreation area should be.”