House Panel Urges Dam, River Funding

Hansen Dam, the Sepulveda Basin and the Los Angeles River--three high-profile San Fernando Valley recreation projects--would receive nearly $5 million under a 1993 appropriations bill approved by a key House committee Thursday.

The House Appropriations Committee approved $2.28 million for development of Hansen Dam in the northeast Valley, $2 million for improvements at the Sepulveda Basin in the central Valley and $500,000 for two studies of ways to better utilize the Los Angeles River.

The funds were included in the Energy and Water Development bill, which will be taken up by the full House next week. The Senate will draft its own version of the spending measure, and the two will be reconciled in a conference committee by members of both chambers.

Longtime congressional proponents of the Valley projects hailed Thursday’s action.

“I am very pleased,” said Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City), who has backed improvements for Hansen Dam, which he said “continues to be a top priority” for him.

The money would allow the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which owns the site, to complete construction of a 15-acre swimming lake and to plan and design a 70-acre boating lake and other recreational facilities. Hansen Dam straddles Pacoima and Lake View Terrace.

About $167,000 of the total appropriation would come from a trust fund generated by fees paid by a contractor who is selling silt from flood-control channels at the site, a Berman aide said. The contractor pays 15 to 25 cents into the fund for each ton removed.

Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Los Angeles), meanwhile, said he was delighted that the House Appropriations Committee had recommended $2 million to complete recreational facilities at the new Lake Balboa Park in the basin and to restore that part of the Los Angeles River that flows through the sprawling greenbelt on the floor of the Valley.

“The river restoration is a very exciting project,” Beilenson said.

Since 1985, Congress has appropriated $13.5 million to create the 160-acre Lake Balboa Park and a 60-acre wildlife refuge. The city has matched construction costs and assumed all maintenance costs under the program.

Restoration of the river, a project championed by Mayor Tom Bradley, would include stabilizing and replanting river banks, re-establishing a natural habitat irrigated with reclaimed water, creating a nature trail and building a pedestrian bridge. The corps, which uses the river for flood control, has been reluctant to divert it from this task.

The Appropriations Committee included $300,000 for the federal portion of a feasibility study of recreational opportunities, such as bike trails and small parks, along the river and $200,000 for an initial study to identify ways to conserve water and increase the water supply throughout Los Angeles County.