Crews Begin Work to Protect Homes From Flood Threat : Drainage: Ditches at the base of fire-ravaged Thousand Oaks hillsides are lined with straw to slow water runoff and filter out sediments.

California Conservation Corps workers Wednesday began the labor of protecting Thousand Oaks homes below fire-ravaged hillsides from the threat of flooding because of increased debris and ash runoff.

The workers, headquartered in Camarillo, unloaded hundreds of 40-pound rectangular bales of hay and began lining drainage ditches running out of canyons above the Deer Creek neighborhood south to Potrero Road.

The hunks of straw will slow the water runoff and filter out sediments that could plug drainage systems serving streets and residences at the base of the rugged hills, said Scott R. Huntsman, a senior associate with Woodward-Clyde Consultants.

“This is the emergency response,” Huntsman said. “This is the answer to the question, ‘What are we going to do if it starts raining tomorrow, or next week?’ Let’s provide a first line of defense to these houses and these storm drains.”

The grueling work in three major drainage basins from Fenton to Potrero roads was expected to last about 10 days, Huntsman said.

The Ventura County Flood Control District was considering similar techniques to control runoff in areas south of Potrero Road and near Camarillo, but no decisions have been made, said John Weikel, senior engineer.

Weikel said the county is considering building protective devices in the Rancho-Sierra Vista area and in the watershed draining toward Camarillo State Hospital, areas that also were burned.

The county also is responsible for studying restoration or protection projects for much of the 26,500 acres burned in the Steckel fire near Santa Paula.

The Woodward-Clyde consulting firm, which did similar work following the Oakland fires of 1991, is working with Thousand Oaks officials to develop long-term plans for helping to recover 1,300 charred acres next to city neighborhoods, Huntsman said.

“It’s critical that we act with dispatch because the rainy season will be upon us soon,” City Manager Grant Brimhall said. “I’ve been involved in fire-flood combinations before, and they can be devastating unless we take quick, decisive and effective remedial action.” Only 34 of the acres are owned by the city, and another 105 are jointly owned by the city and park district, but Thousand Oaks must assume responsibility because residences in the city are threatened, city staff members said.

“A 10-year storm can end up as a 100-year storm without vegetation” to block mudslides, Public Works Director John Clement said.

Meanwhile, the California Department of Forestry has decided to reseed 2,600 acres of slopes around the neighborhoods of Lake Sherwood with ryegrass in hopes of fending off mudslides, said David Neff, regional resource program manager. The project is expected to start next week.

The use of non-native ryegrass has generated some controversy, because it can slow the return of native vegetation while providing little erosion control. But Neff said the seeds can be effective if not disturbed by wind or severe rainstorms through about January.

“We feel there is enough valuable property downstream that we need to take every absolute opportunity to protect,” Neff said.

Thousand Oaks officials have not decided whether to reseed, officials said. A final plan was scheduled to be finished within two weeks.

Thousand Oaks is paying for its $215,000 project up front from its general fund. But the Federal Emergency Management Agency will reimburse 75% of the total, and the state will kick in another 15%, Brimhall said. But to qualify for the reimbursements, Thousand Oaks must hire outside consultants and land-rehabilitation experts, rather than using city employees, he said.

The remaining 10% of costs would be split between Thousand Oaks and the Conejo Open Space Conservation Authority, a joint city-park district agency.