Quick Fix Was No Solution

It was raining. A big chunk of Santa Ana Road was out, and the Ventura County Public Works Agency was looking for a quick fix.

They got their fix, eventually, although it didn’t turn out to be quick. More to the point, it may not have been legal either: The county is under investigation by federal agencies for allowing contractor Tom A. Staben to dig in the Ventura River bed for material to repair the road, in violation of environmental rules.

This saga began in early February, when El Nino storms were lashing the county. While state highways into the Ojai Valley were under assault from mudslides, Santa Ana Road--a crucial alternative route--was partially closed after a river embankment collapsed.

County officials quickly sought companies to perform repairs and selected Staben as the low bidder. And when the contractor was unable to find suitable soil to rebuild the embankment, those officials gave him permission to dig for it in the riverbed.

The trouble is, doing so may have violated the federal Clean Water Act and regulations safeguarding the habitat of the endangered steelhead trout. And because the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers halted the work and ordered restoration of the riverbed, the decision to cut corners ended up delaying repairs instead of expediting them.

County officials offer a long list of excuses: Staben couldn’t find dry soil anywhere else. They thought the emergency warranted an exemption from federal regulations. And when was the last time someone saw steelhead trout in that river anyway?

Public Works Director Art Goulet acknowledges that his department should have asked the contractor to seek a permit before digging in the riverbed. And the county isn’t the only agency in such a fix: The Ojai Valley Sanitation District also faces possible fines from the corps in a very similar mess.

But none of that changes the fact that county officials committed the most basic of errors in judgment, the kind that lies at the heart of many an environmental headache: They chose a short-term benefit without thought for long-term consequences.

Next winter, come hail or high water, we expect them to do better.