SAN CLEMENTE : Flood Control Plan for Golf Course OKd

After years of work, officials from a number of public and private agencies have devised a plan to protect the lower end of the Shorecliff Golf Course and surrounding homes from floods.

The California Coastal Commission late last week approved the proposal, which will balance the needs of the environment and the need to prevent future floods at the golf course, according to officials.

Under the plan, a small stream that used to flow through the golf course toward the ocean from Interstate 5 to Calle Grande Vista will be restored to its natural state, while a 3,000-foot-long underground boxed culvert will be built next to the stream to handle excess runoff during major storms.

“We have protected the citizens surrounding the golf course from stress of expecting to be flooded, and we have restored a native riparian blue line stream,” said Floyd Cate, a spokesman for the golf course.

Work on the drainage plan--developed by the city, golf course owner LHC Investments and Centex Homes--is expected to begin this summer, Cate said.

Centex, the master developer of Forster Ranch in the hills upstream from the golf course, will pay for the drainage channel under the terms of a 1988 development agreement with the city. Negotiations are underway to see who will pay for restoring the stream, which includes the replanting of native trees and other plants, said Jim Holloway, the city’s community development director.

Holloway said officials are elated that a drainage plan has finally been approved. Last May, the Coastal Commission rejected a plan that would have included a boxed drainage channel, but not the stream restoration.

With the success of the latest plan, officials will be looking for ways to improve drainage on the upper and middle portions of the golf course, Holloway said.

It was more than 10 years ago when the last major flood wiped out most of the ocean-view golf course.