County to Fund Important Flood-Control Project

Though city voters last fall narrowly defeated a proposal for a flood-control program, one major drainage project is moving forward, Public Works Director Mark Christoffels said.

In a report to the City Council, Christoffels said Orange County has agreed to pay the full cost of improving a key drainage channel parallel to Valley View Street near Katella Avenue. Christoffels said the project is estimated to cost the county $308,000.

The drainage artery to be improved is called the Bolsa Chica Channel. The county’s work on it will extend from near Phyllis Drive to Katella Avenue. Work is expected to begin this year.

The project, proposed by the Orange County Flood Control District, would make repairs including reconstruction of the earthen slopes of the channel and the placement of 24 inches of rock slope protection, Christoffels said. Also, some storm drain inlets would be replaced.

The Bolsa Chica Channel was damaged by the January 1995 rainstorms and subsequent flooding that caused millions of dollars in property damage.

In the fall of 1995, voters overwhelmingly supported a flood-control advisory issue on the ballot. Encouraged by those results, the City Council put a $10-million flood-control bond issue on the ballot in the fall of 1996.

State law requires a two-thirds yes vote on such issues, but the measure fell just short of that, gaining approval of 63.2% of voters.

The loss was so narrow that Christoffels is recommending that the city propose the bond issue again in 1998. In the meantime, he said, the county-financed work will be a step in the right direction.