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County still seeks price for worrisome site The Colonies developers have expressed interest in a highly eroded swath of land between narrow, concrete-lined flood-control channels below Deer Canyon and Day Canyon two of the steepest and largest mountain watersheds in San Bernardino County. The land's potential for flooding during extreme rainstorms is the subject of letters, reports and comments by public and private critics ranging from the operators of Ontario International Airport to U.S. senators. A first appraisal was initiated at the request of the county and Colonies Partners LP two days after a March closed-session meeting between two county supervisors and Colonies representatives. The Colonies Partners are suing the county for unspecified damages that could exceed $200 million to reimburse the company for land used for flood control at the Colonies development in Upland and for renovations to the flood-control basin on that property. While a tentative settlement with Colonies developers has been shelved for the time being, county officials have commissioned a second appraisal because of the potential value of the Rancho Cucamonga land. If the Colonies partners get the land, they want to build more homes and businesses there, downstream from a debris basin many scientists already believe is a threat to existing neighborhoods, schools and commercial properties, including Ontario International Airport. The land is marked on current flood-control maps as the Day Creek Spreading Grounds. County public works officials say the land is no longer needed for flood control, even though they asked the state for $330,000 just last year to enlarge the Deer Canyon Basin, just above the spreading grounds. In the grant application, they indicated debris from the basin could block the channel downstream and cause flooding in neighborhoods below. The request was denied and the basin remains under sized. But the need for tradable assets has compelled county leaders to proceed with appraising the land below. County spokesman David Wert said a land swap is a viable option in settlements. "If we're talking about the Colonies, the county would consider offering up land,' Wert said. "If it's the difference between offering assets the county already has and offering up cash that might impair the availability of county services, then certainly land would be the common-sense option.' Undeveloped land in north Rancho Cucamonga can be worth up to $600,000 an acre, Rancho Cucamonga appraiser Don Parish said. The flood-control land being appraised lies north of Banyan Street and between flood-control channels intended to drain Deer Canyon and Day Canyon. Even if only a tenth of the land is zoned and approved for building, its value could exceed $68 million. Secret deal A March memo written by county attorneys describes a closed-door meeting between Supervisors Paul Biane and Bill Postmus, Colonies co-managing partners Jeff Burum and Dan Richards, former state Sen. Jim Brulte who is described as a representative of the Colonies and the attorneys for each side. When discussions stalled, the county and the Colonies partners sent their respective attorneys out of the room and resumed negotiations without them, eventually hammering out a $77 million settlement that also included flood-control land. "We thought it would be easiest for all sides to settle this and move on,' Burum said. "Our partnership was giving in and doing the county a favor. We're the ones who dropped our number to take this land. It's a compromise.' While the memo doesn't specify which flood-control land was in play, the Colonies developers and Biane subsequently contacted appraisers Waldron Associates hired by the county in June to value the 1,137 acres below Deer Canyon and Day Canyon. County officials expect the appraisal to be completed by the end of August, but the delay was unacceptable to Burum. "The issue here was timing,' Burum said. "We had a concept to go back to the full board. It was, 'It's done. It's over. Let's settle this lawsuit.' So when it came back with the caveat that it had to (be) appraised, and (was) not going to be approved in executive session that week ... we weren't happy.' In their memo, the county's attorneys advised the Board of Supervisors to reject the deal, which ultimately was scuttled. County leaders have declined to discuss current settlement negotiations. Still, some residents and scientists worry that a tradition of lenient land use in southwest San Bernardino County has set precedent for development of the spreading grounds. Both Biane and Postmus said they believe the basin is safe and up to capacity. "I think that it's important to point out we did have severe storms for the last year following the fires,' Biane said. "The debris basins worked extremely well. There were no failures. My personal home is on an alluvial fan and I wouldn't put anyone else in harm's way.' Biane lives less than a mile west of the channels. Wet winter Last winter was one of the region's wettest rainy seasons in 150 years. But Doug Hamilton, a consulting engineer and debris flow specialist, said local flood-control facilities have not yet been tested by high-intensity pounding of worst-case storms that are possible along south-facing watersheds of the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains. Burum said he didn't know local, state and federal officials have been concerned for years that at least one of the basins sitting high above homes, schools, and Ontario International is not sufficient to hold back debris flows that could potentially come rushing down from the mountains. "If that's the case, we don't want the land,' Burum said. "We don't want any land we don't have the ability to develop.' County flood-control officials dismissed concerns as unfounded fear-mongering by activist neighbors who had "Not-in-my-back-yard syndrome.' But scientists and politicians at the state and federal levels are among those who have joined the debate. Among them are former state Office of Emergency Services Director Dallas Jones, state Resources Secretary Mary J. Nichols , Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, both D-Calif., and private property owners that include the operators of Ontario International. Jones and Nichols both expressed concerns about two schools, Banyan Elementary and Los Osos High, that were built during the debate about the safety of flood-control structures below Deer Canyon. Officials at Chaffey Joint Union High School District said Los Osos High has detailed plans that address flood emergencies, including problems with the Deer Canyon Basin. The school also has an evacuation plan in case officials are notified by the flood-control district. Alta Loma School District officials did not provide information about Banyan Elementary's emergency plans in the event of flood-control failures below Deer Canyon. The Deer Canyon Basin has not been enlarged since it was first built in 1980 by the Army Corps of Engineers. The Army Corps also built the Day Canyon Basin. The San Bernardino County Flood Control District maintains the basins. Officials at both agencies contend the basins are adequate. But county flood-control officials, in a state Office of Emergency Services grant application for Federal Emergency Management Agency funding in 2004, stated the Deer Canyon Basin is too small. "As a result of the October/November 2003 wildfires, debris and sediment generated from the watershed will increase significantly,' the application states. It is signed by Public Works Director Patrick J. Mead. "The basin will not have the capacity under current design, to contain the sediment and debris.' Still worried Unresolved concerns about the debris basin at the mouth of Deer Canyon continue to raise questions about public safety questions any appraiser should take into account before putting a price tag on the land, say scientists who have studied the basin. It is unclear whether the appraisers hired by the county, Waldron Associates, have been told about the concerns. Repeated calls for this story were not returned over the past three weeks. Ontario International is miles downstream of Deer Canyon, south of Interstate 10, but is still within Deer Creek's flood plain another indicator of the size and steepness of the mountain watershed below towering Cucamonga Peak. The owners of Ontario International, Los Angeles World Airports, hired a consulting engineer to study the Deer Canyon Basin in 2001. Airport owners were alarmed at the findings and complained to the state Resources Agency in 2002. "It was never resolved,' said Gary Brown, an administrator with Los Angeles World Airports. "We never got any response back from the state of California's resources agency. It's still a concern of ours. There was never any corrective action taken. The condition still exists.' The airport owners' consultant, John J. Cassidy of Walnut Creek, said the land below the basin is not suitable for development. "It would be a potentially serious mistake to grant permission to build on that land,' Cassidy said. "The basin is so under sized that in a 100-year flood, sand and rocks will flow into the channel and block it, and high-velocity flows will come out of the channel.' Cassidy also said the sand and rocks could block the channel, and cause the airport runways to flood. Mead said he disagrees with Cassidy's and Hamilton's findings. He admitted the capacity for the Deer Creek Basin is not the 310 acre-feet it was planned to be. But he maintains it is safe. "The area below the dams are definitely protected,' he said. "There are no real laws that define the specific criteria to protect from debris flowing out of canyons. It comes down to what's reasonable.' County asked for help Just 16 months ago, county flood-control officials asked the state for $330,000 to enlarge the Deer Canyon Basin, which is supposed to protect neighborhoods of homes and schools as well as the vacant land. "Debris carried over the dam's spillway can block channel road crossings, causing overflow in those areas,' flood-control officials said in a hazard mitigation grant application, received by state Office of Emergency Services officials April 5, 2004. The application was not approved and the flood-control district was encouraged to reapply this year, Mead said. Still, Mead said the flood-control measures will withstand a 100-year flood the standard used by engineers to measure flood-control protection. Statistically, a 100-year flood has a 1 percent chance of occurring each year. A 100-year flood can occur more than once in a relatively short period of time, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Some flood-control officials, including former director Ken Miller, would like to see design standards for some projects upgraded to protect lives and property from back-to-back 100-year storms. "I believe we have 100-year protection,' Mead said. "Anything above and beyond is additional protection.' Contradiction? "I don't see how the county can ask for a grant for money to fix the basin and at the same time dispose of this land below the basin,' said Hamilton, a consulting engineer with Exponent Failure Analysis of Irvine. "It seems like a contradiction.' But the county and its West End Flood Control Zone One may wind up strapped for cash and assets if final court rulings favor the Colonies. County officials have already acknowledged they will consider using $10 million in state grant funding to reimburse the Colonies for flood-control improvements in Upland if they get it. "We want to be compensated for the land they took from us. The only thing they have enough of is land,' Burum said. Hamilton was hired by a concerned resident in 1999 to assess the Deer Canyon Basin. He also has been hired in the past by the county flood-control district to assess post-fire debris flow risks in San Bernardino. Hamilton said he hopes Waldron Associates know of the basin's shortcomings. "Hopefully the appraiser understands that, at least for Deer Creek, there's a problem with the design of the basin,' Hamilton said. "There's still a significant hazard that affects the value and possible uses of the land. ... At least the county acknowledges that problem in their grant application.' Although county flood-control officials admit Deer Creek Basin provides less flood protection than its original design called for, they maintain the basin and its channel are adequate. State weighs in Joe Grindstaff, former general manager of the Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority, helped broker discussions of Deer Creek options before he was appointed chief deputy director of the California Department of Water Resources last year. Grindstaff was concerned when he heard about a developer working with the county to appraise the land. "My sense is we don't know a lot about the kind of alluvial fan flooding, debris flows, that can occur up there,' Grindstaff said. "There are different technical opinions about the basin capacity. "But (state Resources Agency) Secretary (Mary) Nichols recommended the basin be enlarged,' Grindstaff said. "I think it's fair to say if the secretary for resources, a cabinet member under Governor Davis, if she says there are concerns about the basin, then clearly that makes the use of the land below an issue.' Steve Verigin, another state Water Resources deputy director, wrote a 90-page report on Deer Creek Basin commissioned by Nichols after she received complaints from numerous parties, including Boxer and Feinstein. The state Resources Agency coordinated at least 10 meetings over 16 months and spent about $250,000 to generate Verigin's report. "You want to allow building only where, to the best of your abilities, you have protection against flood,' Verigin said. "This technical work does indicate there is a deficiency in the basin. Our recommendation is those deficiencies are dealt with.' An alluvial fan task force mandated by a law signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in September is intended to address land-use issues on the giant slopes of mountain erosion that comprise most of the foothills from Upland to San Bernardino and Highland. The task force is still awaiting about $800,000 in Federal Emergency Management Agency pre-disaster mitigation funding for its first year. "There is almost always a blind eye by politicians when it comes to approving more homes on alluvial floodplains,' said San Bernardino councilwoman Susan Lien Longville, who served on a state panel that recommended the task force. "They don't show up on flood maps but are forever at risk of foreseeable flooding.'
The Department of Water Resources concluded the basin is more than a third too small and recommended enlarging it by more than one-half its current capacity. Exponent's Doug Hamilton, an engineer who in the past has been hired by the county to study flood-control problems, concluded the Deer Canyon Basin is "substantially undersized.' At best, the debris basin will only provide a 20-year level of protection, and will overtop for conditions exceeding a 20-year event,' Hamilton said. Engineer John J. Cassidy, representing Ontario International's owners, concluded the Corps underestimated 100-year flood-flow rates by more than 100 percent. Rock, sand and gravel carried into the Deer Canyon Basin during such a flood would be more than three times the basin's capacity. The basin and downstream flood channel would not protect property owners on the alluvial fan below or Ontario International Airport, Cassidy concluded. Hydrologist David Dawdy, representing Havenview homeowners,
concluded Deer Canyon Basin is under-designed because the Corps underestimates
flood possibilities and because the basin's concrete channel could be
compromised by heavy debris loads.
Alluvial Amnesia: How Officials Imperil Communities by Downplaying
Flood Risks' A 60-page report published in 2002 by the Center for Governmental
Studies analyzes the debate over the Deer Canyon debris basin and makes
recommendations.
Colonies officials argue that the county Flood Control District is responsible for the cost of improvements needed to make the basin capable of handling large amounts of storm runoff. County officials argue that they have a right to the
land and that money the Colonies received from Caltrans for the Interstate
210 extension was sufficient to cover its costs to improve the basin. |