Emergency Flood Relief for Lagoon Is Rejected

While conceding the likelihood that autumn rains could cause the Ormond Beach Lagoon to flood nearby property, a federal agency has refused permission for emergency measures to reduce the risk.

Controversy over a plan to immediately pump water out of the lagoon to reduce its water level by two feet played a role in the Army Corps of Engineers decision, the federal officials said.

Environmentalists have raised concerns the work could harm the sensitive lagoon habitat.

The action means the Ventura County Flood Control District--and several nearby commercial properties--will have to wait at least six weeks for the federal agency to take the lengthy regulatory steps to process the permit, while hoping rains don’t cause the lagoon to overflow before then.

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“They do not want to move swiftly because this is a controversial issue,” said Art Goulet, acting director of the Flood Control District.

He said the Corps of Engineers had earlier warned that it was unlikely to approve emergency action. “That position is very distressing to us because we think it’s something that needs to be addressed at the earliest possible date and there are, in fact, properties in jeopardy.”

Flooding has been a problem since 1993. In each of the last two years, major flooding was averted when storm runoff tore through the naturally-occurring sand berm that prevents water in the lagoon from draining into the ocean.

But not reducing the water level creates the risk that a moderate rain could lead to flooding.

Last year, rain-swollen water levels came close to threatening an adjacent paper recycling plant that employs 117 workers, said plant manager Mike Hage.

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“Hopefully, we’re not going to have to swim,” he said. “Our position is that they have to do something, sometime. It’s been three years.”

But environmental groups have registered concerns over the effect that artificially lowering the lagoon would have on the sensitive habitat.

“The action that was contemplated probably would be a direct violation of the Endangered Species Act and it would probably force the Sierra Club and others to engage in litigation with the county,” said Al Sanders, conservation chairman of the Sierra Club’s Sespe Group, which has 1,700 members in western Ventura County.

The Corps of Engineers rejection of the emergency pumping request “means a number of species that would be immediately impacted have been given a small reprieve,” he said.

Still, excessively high lagoon water levels may also harm the habitat, said Morgan Wehtje, a biologist with the state Department of Fish and Game office in Ventura.

More ominously, Wehtje fears disastrous flooding could lead to political pressure to protect property by permanently lower water levels, an even greater danger to the delicate habitat.