Clearing of Creek Is Approved

Over the protest of environmentalists, the Orange County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to approve the removal of trees and other vegetation from a creek that flows into Upper Newport Bay.

The county’s Public Facilities and Resources Department said that if vegetation stretching more than two miles is not removed, San Diego Creek could overflow during a major storm and cause significant flooding.

Environmental activists urged the board to reject the proposal, saying it’s unnecessary and a threat to a delicate habitat.

“I can’t believe what the county is getting ready to do. They want to go and kill the biosphere that exists.... This is incredible. This is wrong,” said Darrell Nolta of Westminster.

But county officials said the emergency action was necessary because the creek in its current state could not handle a significant storm.

“All it takes is one of those storm events for us to have an overflow of the channel,” said Vicki Wilson, director of the county’s Public Facilities and Resources Department.

The three supervisors who attended Tuesday’s meeting, acting as the county Flood Control District, voted unanimously to approve the request, which will cost $3.3 million and come out of the county’s flood fund. Wilson said her staff would begin some trimming today and seek to hire a firm to complete the project.

“I would not like to wake up Feb. 15 on a [major] rain event and find out that place was flooded out because we did not take action today,” Supervisor Bill Campbell said.

Supervisor Chris Norby also voted for the plan but said he was disappointed that county staffers had allowed the vegetation to grow to such a point that it became an immediate threat.

“There has been a lack of planning and action on our part that has brought this on,” Norby said. “Unfortunately, nature does cause floods.”