Dispute Delays Clearing of Channels

By Friday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers should grant permission to clear Los Angeles County’s clogged flood control channels, the agency’s top regional official told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

But in a bizarre twist that played itself out in a nearly two-hour debate moments later, political differences among the supervisors may prevent the work from starting immediately, increasing the possibility that El Nino-triggered winter storms could cause the channels to overflow.

The corps’ chief for Southern California, Col. Larry Davis, came to the meeting with two colleagues, intending to brief the supervisors on plans to speed up the agency’s slow-moving permit process so the county can clear the channels before the rainy season begins.

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But instead of welcoming the corps’ determination to move faster, Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky opened the debate by excoriating the corps and county public works officials for moving too quickly. Hurrying the process, Yaroslavsky said, has meant that environmental factors in the channels may not be properly considered.

Other supervisors weighed in with their own concerns: Gloria Molina, who favors clearing the channels, demanded that the corps return to the board next week with detailed proposals on how the work should be done and whether vegetation that is torn out should be replaced.

Mike Antonovich, who has led the move to accelerate channel clearance, declared his opposition to any requirement that the county replace vegetation that is torn out as the channels are cleared.

In the end, it appeared that although the permits might indeed be ready Friday, the board may not agree on how to clear the channels until at least Tuesday, when several motions on the subject will be considered and the corps will return for another round.

Flood control experts believe the work needs to start immediately if it is to be completed before the expected onset of the rains.

Last month, Jim Noyes, chief deputy director of the department of public works, told the board that the county had been trying for two years to obtain permission to clear out 95 flood control channels, many of which had lost more than half of their capacity to weeds and debris. If they overflow when El Nino brings anticipated storms, Noyes said, massive flooding could result.

The channels, which have concrete sides with natural bottoms, were dug by the corps, private developers and others over 60 years, and are used to keep Los Angeles County’s meandering rivers on a safe and predetermined course during a flood.

The county is required by law to keep them clear. But eight federal and state agencies have asserted control over the channels in the last two decades. And since a court decision in 1993 gave the corps regulatory control over work in stream beds, the permits have been held up as environmental agencies, special interest groups and local governments have argued about how--or even whether--to keep the channels clear.

Citing environmental concerns, the corps wants to make the county promise to build hundreds of acres of wetlands--in many cases three acres for every acre of channel that is cleared.

Such requirements, which would cost an estimated $35 million to $50 million, would be reduced if the county agrees to give the channels a “haircut” instead of a shave, going in with saws and shovels instead of bulldozers.

Yaroslavsky, who calls the concern over El Nino “hysteria,” wants to slow the whole thing down and make decisions on each channel one at a time.