MAILBAG - Nov. 8, 2007

What issues are behind the levee repairs?

Recent reports of the Orange County supervisors authorizing $8 million to $10 million for emergency repairs for an isolated stretch of levee that borders the Bolsa Chica wetlands seems curious.

After all, what has changed since 2005 to suddenly make the situation worthy of a local emergency declaration? And why is it only the north side of the flood control channel that is deteriorating? Could it be due to the historical, natural water course that flows through Shea Homes’ proposed development site? The Bolsa Chica Land Trust has named this site the Upper Bolsa Chica Wetlands, and their evidence of wetland flora and fauna has resulted in the Coastal Commission properly reducing the acreage available for development.

Once the proposed steel curtain is driven through the levee, might it act as a dam to the natural drainage, thereby resulting in increased flooding? Has this technological fix worked elsewhere? It recalls similar repair methods being utilized in New Orleans, where they served only to weaken the flood defenses. So why are the supervisors in such a hurry to make the repairs without considering all factors?

Of course they claim to be protecting the county from economic liability, but it seems suspicious that the only section of the levee deemed “precarious” enough for emergency repairs is the one farthest from the existing homes of county taxpayers. Forget the fact that the levee’s condition was brought to the attention of the county supervisors by the developer whose adjacent property stands to benefit the most from the repairs. From where I stand, this looks like our locally-elected officials helping a private enterprise pull an end run around the Coastal Commission. Has anyone investigated whether campaign contributions were made to these officials by this developer?

Finally, it should be noted that Shea Homes has used the “carrot on the stick” promise of flood-control improvements benefiting “all nearby homeowners” in order to win the city’s approval for their project. But the maps they included in the ads they placed in the Daily Pilot clearly showed that the only ones benefiting from their plans were their future homeowners and those residents located miles upstream near their proposed, new pumping station. Those of us living closest to the proposed development will not have our flood hazard reduced nor our requirement for flood insurance removed, even after all improvements are made and disasters, both real and imagined, are averted by so-called emergency repairs.

JEFF ROKOS

Huntington Beach