Board of Supervisors Off-Site Meeting: Santa Paula Creek Project

By Sheryl Hamlin

This is the third report from the October 13, 2015 Special Off-site meeting of the Ventura County Board of Supervisors. Report one is available here. Report two is available here.

Peter Sheydayi, Deputy Director of the Watershed Protection District of Ventura County (Part of Public Works) presented the history, current status and future issues of the Santa Paula Creek Project. His presentation begins at 1:54 on the video.

Mr. Sheydayi said with El Nino forecasts solidifying, it is appropriate to consider these storm effects across the county and specifically on Santa Paula because of the citys history with the creek.

The Santa Paula Creek Watershed is 45 square miles most of which upstream from the city of Santa Paula. The project reach is 1.8 miles and it is all contained within the city of Santa Paula. He then gave the history of the creek.

•          1948 – Congress Authorizes the Santa Paula Creek Project (PL 858)
•          1973 – Construction of Phase 1
•          1975- Court Injunction Halts Project  casualty of beginning of environmental movement  phases 2 and 3 halted
•          1990 to 1996  After Significant Flood Damage to Phase 1, Corps Completes General Reevaluation Report and Certifies EIR/EIS
•          1997 to 2001  Corps Constructs Phase 2 Project including Fish Ladder

History since construction of Phase 2: Problems

•          2004  District Requests Corps to Address Bank Protection Scour
•          2005  Floods Cause Damage to Fish Ladder and Deposits 340,000 CY of Sediment (designed 28,000 CFS experiencing near this amount)
•          2006 to 2009 – District and Corps Implement EAP Due to Compromised Flood Capacity

Mr. Sheydayi showed two pictures: one of the new fish ladder and one of the damaged fish ladder where the sediment had collected.

Monies were obtained for sediment removal. But because of agency jurisdictional issues the actual design flaws were not corrected.

Mr. Sheydahi presented a complicated, convoluted series of actions between the Corps of Engineers and the NMFS (National Marine Fish Service). Because NMFS said they would only consult on the entire project, the revised fish ladder could not be analyzed individually. Representative Brownley was brought in to resolve these federal agency differences. Concurrently, the project is terminated in the eyes of the Corps and turned over to the Watershed District, who is not allowed to repair anything except the roads!

Because the county Watershed District is restricted to its role in the creek, the district is putting together a list of expectations for the Corps of Engineers in terms of maintenance (O&M). He says at this point, it has become a political situation to convince the Corps to put the project in a maintainable state.

Tully Clifford, Director of the Watershed Protection district, presented the fact that what is a technical presentation has a political overlay to it. Essentially, the Watershed District is dealing with two federal agencies who are giving two different opinions and directions, thereby limiting what the district can do. He said the district would like to take over from the Corps but the facility must be in a better condition. He is asking for Board support and city support.

Supervisor Long responded by saying she was there for the dedication of the new fish ladder as well as for the destruction of it. It is a piece of the problem, but not the entire problem. She will look for the city to aid in writing to move the project forward. Specific language was required for doing any repairs: biologically environmental repairs. Some work was done, but not enough to advance it to where it needs to be. Frustrating is a kind expression for this situation, as Supervisor Long characterized it.

Related to El Nino was item 19 recommending that the Ventura County Sheriffs Office of Emergency Services (OES) include the Santa Susana Field Laboratory Site (SSFL) in its Report on El Nino Preparedness Plans by asking that the department talk to various agencies to determine El Nino preparedness. The OES representative said they can incorporate this into their planning process and will establish communication with the various parties. This includes emergency communications preparedness. The motion to include the SSFL site in the Vulnerability Report passed.

The last report in this series will be a detailed presentation of AB109 Prison Realignment.

Summary minutes of this meeting may be read here.

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