SANTA PAULA : City to Back County Flood Control Plan
The Santa Paula City Council agreed Monday to support a countywide approach to the regulation of storm water runoff that could someday limit discharges into the Santa Clara River.
With a unanimous vote, the council agreed to join other Ventura County cities in applying for a storm water discharge permit, making the county’s Flood Control District the principal authority.
Authorized by the 1987 Federal Clean Water Act, the discharge permits are intended by the Environmental Protection Agency to be a first step in the control of pollutants in storm runoff.
By applying in cooperation with other Ventura County cities, Santa Paula will help limit the expense of the county’s permit application, said Norm Wilkenson, Santa Paula’s public works director.
Wilkenson told the council that research has identified storm runoff as the source of nearly half the pollution reaching the country’s waterways.
“An incredible amount of material washes off our streets and yards and into the storm drain system,” Wilkenson said.
Complicating the task of cleaning storm water is the vast number of storm drains and debris basins, with at least 300 in Santa Paula alone, he said. Cleaning all the drains more often would be a “horrendous task,” Wilkenson said.
Under a countywide approach, a network of monitors in the county’s streams and flood control channels would eventually be installed, he said.
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