Hard-Hit Wilderness Parks, Aliso Pier Face Long Closures

The latest series of El Nino storms has cut a trail of damage through Orange County’s parks and forced the indefinite closure of the Aliso Pier as engineers determine whether the landmark is structurally safe, officials said Monday.

Rugged wilderness parks in the South County could remain closed for months as rangers contend with major landslides as well as swollen creeks that washed out trails and felled thousands of trees.

“This is the greatest damage we’ve ever seen,” said Tim Miller, manager of the county’s Harbors, Beaches and Parks division. “What we’ve seen has been staggering. And there are still some places we still haven’t been able to reach.”

Since January, county parks have suffered more than $1 million in damage, and that number is expected to rise as more detailed surveys are completed this week.

The most costly repairs might be required at Aliso Pier, where two months of heavy surf caused pieces of the concrete structure to fall off.

County officials fear that the damage is so great that the pier will require $1.5 million to $3 million in repairs or that a new pier will have to be built at a cost of more than $5 million.

During the highest tide, 20-foot waves crashed onto the pier. As waves hit, the pier shuddered and then swayed from side to side.

“That movement concerns us greatly,” said Larry Paul, head of coastal facilities for the county. “A concrete pier doesn’t have a lot of give.”

Engineers are now studying cracks in the structure to determine the extent of the damage and whether the massive concrete pilings that run 20 feet into the ocean floor need to be replaced.

Elsewhere, rangers and other county officials are surveying damage at South County parks, including:

* Landslides at Aliso and Wood Canyon Wilderness Park that broke water pipes that run along a creek. Work crews were trying to repair the problem Monday in case more heavy rains arrive this season.

* Major erosion that downed groves of trees at Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park. For several days, the raging San Juan Creek made much of the park inaccessible.

* Walls of thick mud at Limestone-Whiting Wilderness Park that have blocked roads and trails. “It looks like a disaster area,” said ranger Phil Martinez, who has worked at the park for four years. “This is the worse I’ve seen it. In some places, the roads have become the creeks.”

The recent series of storms also dumped about 100,000 cubic yards of mud and trash into Upper Newport Bay--just as the county was dredging the estuary to remove 750,000 cubic yards of sediment. Officials now say the dredging operation will have to be extended.

Miller said the county might seek federal disaster funds to clean up the damage to parks, which will remain closed for the time being.

“If someone were to go to one of those parks now, it could be unsafe,” he said. “It’s too muddy for horses or bicycles. . . . This erosion we’re seeing is something you have in natural conditions. But it’s amazing to see.”