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Human Lives Trump Endangered Birds in Clearing San Luis Rey River

Posted on: Friday, 25 November 2005, 21:00 CST

By Louise Esola, North County Times, Escondido, Calif.

Nov. 25--OCEANSIDE ---- Endangered birds won't stand in the way of clearing the out-of-control vegetation along the San Luis Rey River channel if the threat of catastrophic flooding threatens human lives, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service official said this week.

"In emergency situations, federal agencies can do whatever it takes to protect human lives," said Jane Hendron, a Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman from the department's Carlsbad office. Hendron said that U.S. Army Corps of Engineers could actually start clearing the brush immediately.

"They could start tomorrow," she said. "It is our understanding that they don't have the funding (to clear the vegetation)."

Army Corps and Fish and Wildlife officials have been wrangling for over a decade on how to clear the overgrown brush and not risk the habitat for endangered species of birds. City officials in Oceanside and from the Corps' Los Angeles office have all said in recent weeks that the vegetation-heavy San Luis Rey River is one big storm away from major flooding in the northeast corner of the city.

A memorandum from the city this month envisions a scenario this winter in which heavy rains could dislodge vegetation in the river channel, sending it downstream where it could then collect and clog up key points along the river. "As the vegetation washes out, it will accumulate on the bridges crossing the river," the city memo states. "As the vegetation accumulates against the bridges, the damming effect has the potential to overtop the levee and to damage or destroy the bridges."

The Corps, in a September letter requesting emergency funds from Washington, D.C., to clear 200 feet of river brush, estimated that damages could swell to $185 million if the river overflows onto surrounding neighborhoods and flood zones.

The San Luis Rey River stretches from the Pacific Ocean to Lake Henshaw, with seven miles flowing through the northern sections of Oceanside lining neighborhoods and valleys. It has overflowed several times in the last century, washing out city bridges, destroying homes and taking people's lives. Why the brush-clearing work hasn't been done yet is a question on the minds of residents, who worry the upcoming rain season ---- if it mirrors last year's record rainfalls ---- could cause major problems. Last year the region saw more than 22 inches of rain, the third highest since 1850 and about double the seasonal average.

The wild and lush vegetation has always been an issue, but last year's rains helped exacerbate the growth, officials said.

Corps officials said they have had plans to control flooding in the works for more than five years but have spent much of that time working with the Fish and Wildlife Service for protection of endangered bird species living in the brush that lines the river. The Bell's vireo songbird and the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher have made their homes there, Hendron said.

In a 137-page biological opinion issued by Fish and Wildlife in April, correspondence between both offices goes back to 1989 and details many back-and-forth requests for information from both parties. Much of the report includes recommendations on how the Corps could proceed without harming the natural habitat.

In January, the Fish and Wildlife Service issued a letter to Oceanside stating that the city can clear brush if human lives were in danger. At the time, rains had drenched the region, putting the river at an unusually high water level. Protocol ---- detailed in the federal Endangered Species Act ---- states that if clearing the brush does affect the endangered species, then Fish and Wildlife will address those issues after the fact.

Several requests by the North County Times for information from the Corps' Los Angeles office, which is handling flood control for the San Luis Rey River and which has requested river-clearing funds from Washington, D.C., went unanswered this week.

Meanwhile, city officials, worried the feds won't act soon enough, said they were ready to clear the brush in time for the upcoming rainy season, but that they're waiting on the OK from the Corps of Engineers.

The City Council on Dec. 7 will vote to declare a "threatened local disaster for the San Luis Rey River," a step that could clear the way for workers to begin chopping 100 feet of green along the riverbed, officials said.

Peter Weiss, the city's director for public works, said he would like to see work done before the rainy season sets in. The work could cost up to $500,000 and would take three weeks. Weiss said the city is having trouble getting permission to do the work.

"No one has said in writing the city has the authority to move forward," he said on Wednesday.

The Corps, which has requested $10 million to chop 200 feet of vegetation along the river, has not given the city the OK because it is waiting to see if it can grant the city authority to clear the vegetation, Weiss said.

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To see more of the North County Times, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.nctimes.com.

Copyright (c) 2005, North County Times, Escondido, Calif.

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Source: North County Times

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