Flooding Could Again Be a Problem

The story on Sepulveda Dam and Basin (April 30) only mentioned at the very end that its major purpose is flood control. We may have forgotten during these dry years, but during one 11-year period, the basin filled up three times. Twice there were between 30-and 40-year floods and once there was an 85-year flood.

At a hearing some years ago, I asked the colonel in charge of the basin whether there was settling area to spare for the 100-year flood. He replied that there was not because so much land had been paved over and built up and the expansion of the Porter Ranch was contemplated.

Have any readers seen Burbank Boulevard under 12 feet of water? Has the development lobbyists stood just north of Ventura and Colfax and watched the Los Angeles River meet up with the Tujunga Wash with a crash during a rainstorm? I have seen the water level just a few feet from the top of the wash.

No structures that cannot be subjected to floods should go into Sepulveda Basin. Ball fields, golf courses and jogging/bicycle paths are compatible. Arts Park is not! Building up berms around them reduces the settling area and holding volume, increasing the threat to the areas downstream.

EMIL LAWTON

Sherman Oaks