CAMARILLO : Beardsley Flood Drain Section Is Completed

Federal inspectors on Monday signed off on a 2,400-foot section of the Beardsley flood control channel bordering acres of lemon orchards where California State University officials plan to build a new campus.

The latest section of drain was built by the KEC Co. of Corona for about $2 million. It was finished within six months, well ahead of the February, 1994, deadline, project manager Mike Simmons said.

“They did a really nice job, and getting it done early saves everyone money,” Simmons said.

The continuing flood control project is crucial to the development of a permanent, four-year California State University campus in Ventura County, which officials hope to open before the end of the century. The existing Cal State campus in Ventura County is a satellite of the Northridge campus and uses rented office space in Ventura.

Much of the area targeted by university officials--about 260 acres north of Beardsley Road west of Camarillo--routinely floods during winter storms.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Soil Conservation Service funded the bulk of the $2-million project, but land costs, easements and rights of way are paid by the county.

The USDA is expected to approve another $1.6 million for the next phase of the drainage system, a half-mile concrete ditch that will border the west side of the planned campus, said Alex Sheydayi, Ventura County deputy director of public works for flood control projects.

“Assuming the federal government signs the agreement by the end of their fiscal year, which is Oct. 1, we could be under construction sometime this winter,” he said.

David Leveille, CSU director of institutional services, said he was pleased the latest stage of the drainage project had been completed.

“We could build the campus without that being done, but it would certainly impact us design-wise and access-wise,” he said. “We see this (flood control plan) as a very important piece of the whole project.”

Work on the $40-million drainage plan began in 1970, and is funded as money becomes available from the federal government.

There are 3.2 miles of channel left to be built, at a cost of $10 million to $12 million, before the entire Beardsley project is finished sometime before the end of the decade, Simmons said.