Delays Create Risk of Runoff From Storms

Nearly 100 flood control channels--from Santa Clarita to Compton to the San Gabriel Valley--could overflow during predicted El Nino storms because of procrastination by federal and state agencies, a top Los Angeles County official warned Tuesday.

James Noyes, chief deputy director of the county Department of Public Works, said in a briefing to the Board of Supervisors that the county has sought permission to clear vegetation from the flood channels for two years.

But the federal agencies that regulate flood control channels--led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which built many of them--have still not granted permission to do the work, despite $200,000 worth of reports filed by the county.

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The problem, according to a letter from the Army Corps, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other regulators, is that many of the flood channels have become home to sensitive wildlife species. The channels generally have earthen floors but were engineered for flood control.

Ironically, Noyes said, another branch of the Army Corps has been sending the county letters demanding that the vegetation be cleared.

“A lot of these channels were built by the Army Corps in the first place,” Noyes said. “We have an agreement with the corps to clear them out.”

Along with seven other counties that find themselves in the same predicament, Los Angeles County has scheduled an emergency meeting with the Army Corps for next week.

“Some counties are considering going ahead without permission,” Noyes said.

Concerned about the delay, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted unanimously to appeal to state and federal regulators to speed up the approval process.

In Los Angeles County, 37 of the 95 problematic flood control channels present “major” or “critical” concerns, say public works officials.

These include stretches along Las Virgenes Creek in Calabasas, Walnut Creek in the San Gabriel Valley and the Sand Canyon channel inlet and outlet in Santa Clarita. Portions of the Santa Susana Creek in Chatsworth and Compton Creek in and around Compton have also been labeled “critical.”

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Regulators say they will not let the channels be cleared until the county provides a plan to build new habitat for migratory birds and other animals and plants that might be displaced by dredging.

“What we’re talking about is having the county assess the maximum impact of what they were doing and work out some sort of mitigation, so that similar wetlands can be created,” said Ray Bransfield, supervisory wildlife biologist with the U.S. Department of Fish and Game, one of the regulatory agencies involved.

Aaron Allen, a project manager for the Army Corps who has worked on the Los Angeles County permits, said it takes “a long time” to process the type of application that the county is seeking.

Allen said the county wants permission to maintain the flood control channels indefinitely, and that coordinating with several regulatory agencies and obtaining a number of different permits takes a long time.

In the meantime, he said, the county has applied for interim permits for some of the more critical areas. These have been put on hold while yet another bureaucracy--the state Water Quality Control Board--decides whether the proposals are in keeping with its rules.