Briefly in the news

The bids are in and Pascal & Ludwig Constructors will soon begin work

on area flood channels to divert urban runoff through the Orange County

Sanitation District before it goes into the ocean.

The Orange County Board of Supervisors awarded a bid of $2 million to

Pascal & Ludwig at its meeting last week for the company to begin

construction of pumps and inflatable rubber dams at three locations: the

Huntington Beach Pump Station, the Talbert Channel and the Santa Ana

River Channel.

Pumps will redirect 95% of the contaminated dry season runoff from the

Talbert and Lower Santa Ana River watersheds to the sanitation district’s

waste-water treatment facility in Fountain Valley before the water is

sent into the ocean.

The contaminated runoff comes from waste oils, animal waste and other

chemicals that are nutrients for bacteria.

The Talbert Channel will have an inflatable rubber dam that lies flat

across the bottom when rain is forecast allowing rainwater to flow over

the dam easily, but when no rain is forecast, it will inflate to three-

or four-feet high.

This dam will catch the urban runoff, which comes from people washing

their cars or watering their lawns, and redirect it to the sanitation

district.

Construction will begin as soon as all the materials are ready.

“I met with the contractor [a week ago] to develop delivery schedules

because there’s a lot of items involved for these inflatable dams, pumps

and valves,” said county engineer Dave Marshall, the construction

department manager for the Public Facilities and Resource Department.The

project is to be completed by May 20.

“We’re hoping to have it done and operational by that time so the

county avoids the necessity next year of installing temporary measures,”

Marshall said.

The project will be funded using state grant money from Propositions

12 and 13 the Clean Beaches Initiative said Bob Wilson, interim watershed

manager for the Public Facilities and Resource Department.