House Gets Bill on Basin, River Projects

The House Appropriations Committee sent to the full House this week a water and energy development bill for fiscal 1991 that includes $2.5 million for the Sepulveda Basin, $700,000 to study expanded use of the Los Angeles River and $272,000 for restoration of Hansen Dam.

Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Los Angeles) had sought $5 million for additional landscaping, open space, trails and parking in the Sepulveda Basin and $1 million for a study of the Los Angeles River’s recreational, transportation and water conservation potential.

Beilenson plans to continue pressing for the additional $2.5 million in the 1992 budget, legislative assistant Melissa Kuckro said. Although the request for river study funds was also reduced, she said the Appropriations Committee generally provides a maximum of $500,000 for river studies but recognized that this project was unusually complicated and costly.

Funds for Hansen Dam in the northeast San Fernando Valley, which were requested by Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City), are set aside in a 4-year-old federal trust fund. The money is generated by the fees paid by a contractor who is digging silt from flood control channels. The contractor, who sells the silt to construction firms, pays between 15 and 25 cents into the fund for each ton removed.

Berman also included language in the bill directing the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, which owns the 1,540-acre dam area, to continue the dredging until it is completed. The corps is completing a master plan and environmental impact statement for revitalization of the long-neglected lake property in Pacoima and Lake View Terrace.

The House is expected to approve the water and energy development bill as crafted by the Appropriations Committee. The Senate will adopt its own version, and representatives from each chamber will meet to reconcile the two measures.