FW: NCTimes-Sisson: Sprinter work may have changed flood plain

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From: <char.ayers@att.net>
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:55:10 +0000
To: Charlene Ayers <char.ayers@att.net>
Subject: NCTimes-Sisson: Sprinter work may have changed flood plain

Thursday, April 10, 2008
Last modified Wednesday, April 9, 2008 10:00 PM PDT

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Sprinter work may have changed flood plain

By PAUL SISSON - Staff Writer

 

OCEANSIDE ---- An official with the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Wednesday that dirt dumped along the edge of Loma Alta Creek will probably change the shape of the waterway's flood plain and may force more homes and businesses to pay for flood insurance.

The dirt ---- about 100,000 cubic yards of it ---- was dumped along the creekbed over the last four years by the North County Transit District to elevate the Sprinter light-rail line's track above flood levels.

Problems surfaced this winter, when a handful of Oceanside businesses along the creek flooded during heavy rains.

Marshall Marik, a flood planner for the federal agency's San Diego office, said Wednesday that he is now working with the city of Oceanside to resurvey Loma Alta's entire length to determine how the dirt could affect the flow of water.

The creek runs along Oceanside Boulevard, from east of College Boulevard to the ocean.

"Right now, we have reason to believe that the current flood map may not be accurate," Marik said.

Marik said that the transit district failed to conduct its own analysis on how dumping so much dirt would change the flow of the creek.

"There has been a violation of the city's ordinance against placing fill (dirt) in the floodway," Marik said. "If fill is placed in a floodway, there should be a study with that."

Transit district attorney Michael Cowett said Wednesday he believes the dis trict followed proper procedures when it built the Sprinter line and moved the dirt.

"It's not as if we didn't get some permit or didn't do something we were supposed to do, at least to my knowledge," Cowett said.

Transit district officials have said that a hydrological study performed by the city of Oceanside was sufficient to show how Sprinter work would affect the creek. That study suggested that several "retention basins" should be built to slow the water's flow.

However, not all of those basins have been completed.

Cowett said the transit agency was working with federal officials and the city to produce a modified flood map.

Oceanside city engineer Scott Smith said Wednesday that the city was now hiring a surveyor to do the work.

Smith said he does not believe the transit district willfully disregarded flood plain issues.

"I think they were in a rush to complete the project, and I think it was overlooked, quite honestly," Smith said.

Marik said Wednesday he didn't want to speculate on whether the shape of the flood plain would change or whether flood risk would increase for properties already in the flood plain.

But he said those properties are not in danger of losing their flood insurance.

"They would be grandfathered," Marik said, meaning they would be exempt from new regulations.

Contact staff writer Paul Sisson at (760) 901-4087 or psisson@nctimes.com.


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