Ventura Turns to Contractor for Flood Warnings

Ventura city officials on Thursday said they have been forced to turn to a private contractor for warnings of potential floods or mudslides because county officials refuse to take on the responsibility.

Although Ventura County flood-control officials say they have never received an official request to provide such flood warnings, city officials said the county was not receptive to the idea at informal meetings on the issue.

At those meetings, flood-control officials suggested that the county did not want to take the responsibility of giving up-to-the-minute information on river levels during heavy rainfall because of potential liability and staffing shortages, said Ken Hess, Ventura’s assistant fire chief.

“After the flood in 1992, we wanted to upgrade the type of information we were getting from the county,” said Hess, who is setting up the warning system as part of the city’s emergency preparedness program. “We needed this information. We wanted to feel comfortable about what was happening on the river immediately so we could respond.”

Ventura officials have become concerned about flood warnings since the city-approved Ventura RV Resort was inundated by floodwaters that crested the Ventura River during the winter of 1992. Mud-laden water swamped dozens of recreational vehicles that received no warning to leave the RV park located on the mouth of the river.

During heavy rains earlier this year, Hess said city employees found it impossible to contact the county Flood Control Department for information on potential high flows in the river.

“We’ve been unable to get this information on a guaranteed basis,” Hess said. “When we call, if we get through, it might take an hour. With the private contractor, we pay a nominal fee and can call 24 hours a day, and they send us information every day.”

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On Monday, the city began contracting with Fox Weather of Oxnard to give them warnings of heavy rainfall that may cause flooding or mudslides. Fox already provides weather forecasting services for the county Flood Control Department, said Alan Fox, director of the forecasting service. Fox said his service will tell the city when and where heavy rain will fall, and they can use that information to predict potential problems.

The county Flood Control Department uses Fox’s information along with data from the National Weather Service and river gauges. The information is entered into a sophisticated computer that helps predict flooding. But county officials said they could not make themselves constantly available to Ventura’s emergency services personnel.

“They can call us any time, but we don’t have the time to give them the hand-holding that they need,” said Dolores Taylor, a senior engineer with the Flood Control Department.

Alex Sheydayi, the department’s deputy director, said he was unaware of being asked to provide the city with an early-warning service. He said the only flood problem the city had was at the Ventura Beach RV Resort.

Since floodwaters swept through the RV park, owner Nancy Hubbard has been trying to set up an early flood-warning system. Hubbard is negotiating with the city to pay a portion of the $4,900 fee so she can receive warnings from Fox Weather.

Earlier this year, the Flood Control Department had a contract to provide such a system for the RV park, Sheydayi said. But the department backed out of the agreement after Hubbard sued them for not warning the RV park about the 1992 flood.

Hubbard accused county officials of abandoning their responsibility toward the city, just as they did with her business, though she dropped her $750,000 lawsuit.

“What’s the purpose of them even having this information if they don’t let other agencies use it?” she asked. “The county of Ventura has some major problems.”