Flood Control Project Gets the Green Light from County Board

Plans for a flood-control project in the works since 2008 received unanimous approval from a southern Calif. county board of supervisors, according to the Ventura County Star.

The county board voted to proceed with the plan to widen and deepen a drainage channel to prevent disastrous flooding. The decision came after a nearly two-hour hearing that drew about 40 people, most of them concerned about possible risks. The channel in question runs more than two miles down one street and ends at the environmentally sensitive Ormond Beach Lagoon.

Officials of the Watershed Protection District said it is a public safety issue. The channel was built in 1961 but lacks the capacity to protect the densely populated if a 100-year flood were to occur, district officials said.

Such a disaster has never been known to happen in the area, but it would cause more than $55 million in property damage and flood about 400 homes and businesses if it did happen, according to a deputy director for the Watershed Protection District. District managers said they would be minimizing environmental and property risks, including measures to protect threatened species and water quality.

The district commissioned a study in 2005 to assess the risk based on recent rainfall. The study found that the channel would not protect the area in a 100-year flood and that it would be overtopped in a 10-year flood—a much less serious event.

The project, which would be paid for by property taxes, is estimated to cost $10 million. The entire project is expected to take several years.

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Source: Ventura County Star