FILLMORE : Council Backs Sespe Creek Preservation
The Fillmore City Council has urged Congress to keep most of Sespe Creek “wild and scenic,” but has not endorsed any of the three bills now being considered.
Bills by Rep. Robert J. Lagomarsino (R-Ventura) and U.S. Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.) would permit construction of a dam at Oat Mountain. The United Water Conservation District favors those bills, but the council opposed them because the dam would sit atop a fault capable of generating a 7-point magnitude earthquake.
A bill sponsored by U.S. Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) would protect more of the creek and is supported by Keep the Sespe Wild, an Ojai-based organization that has approached the council several times for its endorsement.
Since the “wild and scenic” designation includes a quarter-mile strip of land on either side of the creek, the council declined to support the bill because it could restrict development in the North Fillmore Industrial Park.
The council called for preserving the natural state from its headwaters to the Forest Service boundary north of Fillmore.
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