Counties, Engineers OK River Flood Job

Three Southern California counties and the U.S. Army formalized an agreement Thursday that clears the way for the construction of flood-control barriers along the Santa Ana River, with Orange County being the major beneficiary of the project.

Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties and the Army Corps of Engineers will share the cost of the $1.1-billion project to improve flood control along the river that authorities say has the worst potential flood problems west of the Mississippi.

In October, $20 million in federal funds were authorized to initiate the project. The agreement says that each year the federal government will appropriate additional funds until the project is completed.

“The people of Orange County need to realize how important this project is and how devastated the county will be, with the loss of life and structural damage, if a flood does occur,” said Costa Mesa Mayor Peter Buffa, who is chairman of the Santa Ana River Flood Protection Agency. “It’s just hard to picture it right now because the river is dry.”

The Santa Ana River project includes the construction of a new dam, to be called “Seven Oaks,” four miles upstream from Mentone in San Bernardino County; raising Prado Dam in Riverside County by 30 feet to expand its capacity from 195,000 to 363,000 acre-feet; widening and deepening channels along the lower river through Orange County and those along Santiago Creek, and the construction of a drain in Corona.

In addition, the project will enhance and preserve marshland and wetlands for endangered waterfowl, fish and wildlife species at the mouth of the river, according to William Zaun, Orange County’s director of public works.

Orange County, which will be the major beneficiary of the massive project, will pay the major share of the local costs, estimated at more than $400 million.

The river extends from the San Bernardino Mountains to its mouth at Huntington Beach.