Berman Seeks $272,000 for Lake Restoration

Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City) asked a key House subcommittee on Wednesday to earmark $272,000 for restoration of a lake and recreational facilities at Hansen Dam in the northeastern San Fernando Valley.

“There is a great demand for recreational facilities in the San Fernando Valley,” Berman told the House Appropriations Committee’s energy and water development subcommittee. “We need to provide a safe alternative to the streets for city youth.”

The money is set aside in a 4-year-old federal trust fund generated by the fees paid by Bill Blomgren, a contractor who is digging silt from flood control channels. Blomgren, who sells the silt to construction firms, pays 15 cents to 25 cents into the fund for each ton removed.

The $272,000 represents $167,000 expected to accrue from the silt dredging this year and $105,000 from the trust fund appropriated by Congress last year but returned to the Treasury under across-the-board budget cuts imposed by the Gramm-Rudman deficit-reduction law.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which owns the 1,540-acre dam area, is completing a master plan and environmental impact statement for revitalization of the long-neglected lake property, which straddles Pacoima and Lake View Terrace. Berman also requested that the House subcommittee specifically direct the Army Corps to continue the dredging operation and commit all appropriated federal funds to complete the long-anticipated restoration.