Dam Project on Hold Pending Site Review

The Lang Creek dam project will remain on hold until the Army Corps of Engineers finishes a study on an alternative site proposed by City Councilwoman Linda Parks.

On Tuesday, officials said they didn’t how long that would be.

“It’s not always just a yes or no answer,” said Herb Nesmith, a spokesman for the corps. He added that the study could arrive at a variety of more nuanced proposals.

In March, Parks proposed locating the dam 300 yards downstream on Lang Creek, saying the project would have less impact on nearby landscape if built there.

That move would have put the project, first proposed in 1995 to handle flooding from rains, on hold. Still, Thousand Oaks officials decided it would be best to consider all options.

“It’s such an important piece of infrastructure for the community,” Mayor Dennis Gillette said. “We have to make sure whatever’s done is done right.”

The original project was to be a basin in which storm water would flow through a pipe, with excess water held by a dam more than 66 feet high. Parks seeks a much smaller dam wall--8 feet high--and diversion of water out of the creek during storms.

Parks said she offered the proposal as a more environmentally sound alternative. Plants on the federal endangered list have been found on the original site, which is also home to a grove of oaks protected by city law.

Arthur Goulet, former public works director for the Ventura County Flood Control District, disagreed with Parks’ plan.

“There were a lot of questions,” Goulet said. “The site itself wasn’t clearly defined. They never defined what the diversion structure would look like, the facility that would take the water off stream into this basin.

“Without defining that, you really can’t draw the conclusion that it was an environmentally superior project.”