Governor signs bill to clean creek

Legislation allows county to ‘fast track’ Bouquet restoration project

A state bill that would allow the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works to “fast track” cleanup of the Bouquet Creek cleared its last hurdle when Gov. Jerry Brown signed it into law Thursday.

County workers with the Los Angeles County Public Works Department are now allowed to move endangered fish such as the unarmored threespine

stickleback to a safe place while crews clean up debris that clogged the creek after floods in 2005.

The stickleback is a minnow-sized fish that has managed to survive in the Santa Clarita Valley for an estimated 10,000 years and only lives in four local creeks in the valley. One of them is Bouquet Creek.

Residents at nearby

homes and properties, who depend on water flow from the Bouquet Reservoir, have seen their water supply reduced significantly for more than a year because of the creek’s damage.

The popular Lombardi Ranch fall festival was canceled this year because of the lack of water coming from down Bouquet Creek.

Assemblyman Tom Lackey, R-Palmdale, who represents portions of

Saugus and Canyon Country, introduced the bill.

“Now that the law has been changed to address the environmental issues, Bouquet Creek can finally begin to flow again,” said Lackey, in a statement Thursday. “The residents who rely on Bouquet Creek for their water supplies can finally have some relief.”

Officials with the U.S. Forest Service took steps to protect the stickleback’s Bouquet Creek home in 2004.

The exemption signed by Brown is just the second allowed in state history, said George Andrews, Lackey’s chief of staff.

The last one was granted in 1997 to repair damage caused by flooding in Yosemite National Park, Andrews said.

“It’s a big deal,” Andrews said. “We’re just glad to get it done.”

The bill cleared both the state Senate and Assembly last month. Lackey thanked Los Angeles

County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich for his work in getting the project off the ground.

“This is a great victory for the residents of Bouquet Canyon and the wildlife that populate the area,” Antonovich said when the bill cleared the state Senate on Sept. 9.

“With this passage, we are closer to a resolution that allows the county and our partners to complete the habitat restoration project and solve the ongoing water problems the area has faced for over 10 years,” he said.

Antonovich proclaimed a state of local emergency in February 2014, allowing agencies to bypass costly permits needed to clean up the creek bed.

The proclamation allowed crews to put up gates to prevent further flooding, but did not help in speeding up the cleanup process.

Signal Senior Staff Writer Jim Holt contributed to this story.