Flood Channel Project May Be Draining Nearby Wetland : Thousand Oaks: City is looking for a way to halt the work that is intended to clear debris. A Newbury Park habitat may be harmed.

An emergency project to clear debris from county flood channels in Newbury Park may be draining a nearby wetland, Thousand Oaks officials said Thursday.

Residents said they fear the wetland could be seriously harmed by the project, and city officials said they are looking for a way to halt the project, at least until an environmental study can be completed.

Officials of the state Department of Fish and Game said they also are concerned and may re-examine their agreement with the county if it is determined that the wetland is being harmed.

In the meantime, however, construction of the 30-foot-deep ditch and the use of a recently installed 12-inch-wide drainage pipe continued Thursday, immediately adjacent to the environmentally sensitive habitat along Reino Road between Lynn Road and Kimber Drive.

Engineers from the Ventura County Flood Control District, the agency building the basin, said ground water began seeping into the hole when bulldozers dug down about 13 feet. Because the water would hamper the effectiveness of the debris basin, the drainage pipe was installed and began operating this week.

But the project’s engineer, Phil Mirkovich, said Thursday he does not know where the water is coming from, and he does not know what impact the drainage might have on the wetland property immediately adjacent to the ditch.

That information would normally be determined by an environmental impact report, but no such report was needed because the flood-control work is an emergency project stemming from last fall’s Green Meadow fire, Mirkovich said.

The pipe is expected to keep draining water from the $800,000 debris basin for five years, Mirkovich said.

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And the piped water cannot be channeled to the neighboring wetland because the wetland’s owner, developer Nedjatollah Cohan, obtained an injunction to prevent the county from piping the water onto his property. Instead, the water is being piped into a flood-control channel at Kimber Drive and Reino Road.

Flood Control Director Alex Sheydayi said that while he does not know whether the ditch will affect the wetland, he believes construction should continue.

“Whether it’s going to reduce the water getting to the wetland, that’s anyone’s guess,” Sheydayi said. “My sense is that this ground water is not supplying the wetlands and I don’t think there is enough either way that would make me want to stop construction.”

But, Sheydayi added, “If this thing comes to a head, we’ll have to have someone come out and make an assessment.”

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On Thursday, Fish and Game environmental specialist Ken Wilson said he believes an assessment is warranted.

“We’re all going to have to sit down and work something out on this,” Wilson said. “I have a real problem with long-term pumping of this basin.”

Wilson said the Flood Control District had an agreement with the state not to alter the stream bed that flows into the wetland area. He said long-term pumping may disrupt that stream bed’s normal flow.

“We may very well have to revisit the stream bed agreement,” Wilson said. “Either way, there is a strong possibility that some more study will be required.”

Local residents and Thousand Oaks officials said Thursday that they also want construction halted until an assessment is done.

“When I went out and looked at the ditch I couldn’t believe it,” Planning Commissioner Linda Parks said. “There are so many questions that would normally have to be answered before they could dig something like this and they have just waved them off.”

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City planner Greg Smith said the city could do nothing to block or delay the project.

“The (flood control district’s) priority in this is to protect the safety and welfare of down-stream property owners,” Smith said. “They were exempted from all of the normal review.”

The basin, which is being built in two phases, has two main purposes, Mirkovich said.

After the October fire in Newbury Park, the flood-control district determined that mud and debris could clog normal flood channels. In the event of a heavy rain, the clogged channels could pose a threat to homes in the neighborhood.

So the basin is being dug to capture debris so it will not clog the narrower channels downstream.

After about five years, when substantial growth has returned to the fire area, the catch for debris will be converted into a water-detention basin, which would slow the flow of water during a major storm.

“The detention basin is built for a 100-year storm,” Mirkovich said. “The idea is that a giant storm, one that comes only once in 100 years, would produce so much water that it would overflow the flood channels. The basin would be used to retard the flow from reaching its peak.”

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But local residents question the need for the basin at all, given the minimal flooding during this past rainy season.

“Having seen the heavy rains, we feel like there’s a scam going on here,” said Newbury Park resident Jocelyn DeVault.

Flood Control’s Sheydayi said the district must prepare for the worse, not for the type of light rain experienced this winter.

“We determined that with heavy rains as many as 400 homes could have been damaged by flooding,” Sheydayi said. “If we didn’t build this and the rains do come, people will ask why we weren’t prepared.”

Area residents said they remained skeptical about the value of the project, especially when weighed against the potential for harm to the wetland habitat.

“We would like to see this thoroughly examined before it’s all finished,” said Julie Schiowitz, a Newbury Park resident. “Someone needs to look into it.”

Councilwoman Judy Lazar said she does not know what recourse the city could take to ensure that the wetland is not harmed, but she said she plans to look into the issue.

“The residents in that area are extremely vocal and extremely sensitive about what happens on that land,” Lazar said. “I plan to do some research on this.”

Commissioner Parks said she hopes the Department of Fish and Game will step in to prevent harm to the wetland.

“I’d like the federal and state regulatory agencies to look at what’s going on there,” Parks said. “I’m afraid if no one does anything, the wetlands will be gone before anyone can get answers.”