FLOOD CONTROL PROJECT GETS $5.2M
Work on San Luis Rey River in Oceanside was authorized decades ago
Oceanside will get $5.2 million from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to renew the long-stalled San Luis Rey River Flood Protection Project, which will protect homes and businesses along the river, reduce insurance costs, and provide sand for the city’s starving beaches.
The money will help pay for sediment removal, vegetation management and levee improvements along the lower 5 miles of the river to safeguard against the level of flooding likely to occur at least once every 250 years, according to a news release from U.S. Rep. Mike Levin, DSan Juan Capistrano.
“This project is critical for protecting the surrounding community from flooding, but a number of environmental challenges and bureaucratic delays have repeatedly stalled progress,” Levin said in the written statement. “More than 50 years after this project was originally authorized, it’s long past time for the Army Corps to finish their work and turn the project over to the city of Oceanside to protect families in the area from flood threats.”
The f lood control project was authorized in 1970 with the intention of providing the 250-year level of flood protection. Since then challenges such as increasing costs and difficulties with environmental permits have halted work multiple times. Meanwhile, exposure along the river has increased to the point where anything greater than a 70year flood threatens to damage structures.
Oceanside Mayor Esther Sanchez praised Levin for “his Herculean efforts in restarting significant funding” for the project.
“After 50 years, this project continues to be a high priority for our community,” Sanchez said in the release. “These funds will especially address the public safety of and economic impact to residents and businesses along the river who, along with flooding and fire haz
ards, continue to pay high flood insurance premiums until another phase of the project is achieved. Without these funds, our city’s infrastructure would be at greater risk.”
Excavation for the project was last scheduled to begin in September 2017 under a $5.3 million contract the Corps of Engineers awarded to the Northern California company Steelhead Constructors.
The company was to remove 210,000 cubic yards of sediment. Any beach-quality sand removed was to be trucked to the city’s shoreline south of the municipal pier. Sediment not clean enough for the beach would be dumped at the El Corazon property north of Oceanside Boulevard.
Environmental issues and construction plans came into question, deadlines were missed, and the 2017 work failed to start for reasons that were never made clear.
The river is more like a creek for most of the year, fed largely by irrigation runoff. However, during the rainy season it can quickly turn into a torrent that threatens nearby roads, bridges, homes, businesses and farmland.