Hahamongna sediment removal report to City Council

At their April 11 meeting the Pasadena City Council heard a presentation by Steve Sheridan of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works concerning the County's plans for sediment removal behind Devil's Gate Dam in Hahamongna Watershed Park.

County Public Works is working with a consultant to prepare an Environmental Impact Report as directed by the Board of Supervisors to study the effects of removing the massive amounts of sediment which have washed into the basin as the result of the Station Fire. As yet no schedule has been set up for outreach meetings. When the schedule is set up, the City and the public will be notified.

The bulk of Mr. Sheridan's presentation, however, focused upon the measures which the County will take while the EIR is being prepared to protect the integrity and continued operation of the dam and to insure flood protection to downstream communities. Chief among these measures is the removal of 25,000 cubic yards of sediment from along the face of the dam. This excavation will be within 100 feet of the dam and no vegetation will be removed. The work is expected to begin in June or July of this year, depending upon how quickly the basin dries out, and to last about one month. Mr. Sheridan in his presentation stated that there would be 250 truck trips per day. The report to the Board of Supervisors (link given below) estimates 150 to 200 truck trips per day, however.

To remove the sediment from the basin, the access road along the east side of the dam will be re-established. The haul route will be along this road to just below the JPL east parking lot, then on to Windsor Avenue to the freeway and ultimately to Scholl landfill. According to Mr. Sheridan, at present no alternate site has been identified so that the sediment would not have to be deposited in the Scholl landfill. Other interim operational measures include extending the height of the existing sluice gate trash rack, replacing part of the damaged ladder system on the face of the dam, replacing the existing wooden boom logs, installing a new catwalk around the spillway ports, and modifying the Altadena West Storm Drain to allow discharge in the event the outlet becomes blocked by sediment.

The County is also working on two emergency plans to be in place until the reservoir cleanout is complete. The first will notify agencies and residents in response to potential flooding due to high debris flows. The second will be used to notify agencies in response to a dam safety emergency.

To read a copy of the Board report, go to

http://dpw.lacounty.gov/wrd/Removal/index.cfm

Report on recent Hahamongna Advisory meeting

The following is a report on two items of interest which were discussed at the March 22 meeting of the Hahamongna Watershed Park Advisory Committee.

The first was the Hahamongna Basin Multi-use Project, a cooperative effort between the Los Angeles County Flood Control District, the City of Pasadena, and the Arroyo Seco Foundation. The project is one of 13 Greater Los Angeles Integrated Regional Water Management Plan projects submitted to the CA Department of Water Resources for possible Proposition 84 funding. Should funds be awarded, the grantee would be Los Angeles County Flood Control which would complete a Memo of Understanding (MOU) with the Arroyo Seco Foundation. The initial amount requested is $4,341,281 and the total project cost is estimated to be over $7 million.

According to the grant application, this project "will increase water supply, improve water quality, and improve ecosystem health..." Some of the project components include the removal of 250,000 cubic yards of accumulated sediment from the Hahamongna Basin and the use of this sediment to create 23 acres of open space outside the flood zone at the northern end of which the existing parking lot will be expanded south to accommodate 200 vehicles. Adjacent to the parking lot, the compacted fill will create a 4-acre level field to accommodate a future 2.4 acre multi-purpose field. (This sediment removal project is not the Los Angeles County Flood Control Post Station Fire Sediment Removal Project but rather an additional project to be completed after the County's project.)

Other project components in the Basin include raising the base elevation of the SCE power poles, restoring habitat, raising 3000 linear feet of the Perimeter Trail out of the area of frequent inundation, restoring Berkshire Creek, and widening an existing park road to allow for two way traffic.

Up in the Arroyo Seco Canyon, project components include replacing the intake dam with an inflatable dam, fish screens, habitat restoration, trail enhancements and the installation of a public restroom.

The staff presentation at the meeting emphasized that certain of the above components of the Hahamongna Basin Multi-use Project, such as the sediment removal to create the sports field and enlarged parking lot, would not be paid for by Prop 84 IRWMP funds. These projects such as the Sycamore Grove field and the Berkshire Creek restoration were identified as "Multi-benefit Projects." When questioned, staff stated that other funding sources for these projects had not yet been identified.

There followed a long and confusing discussion concerning future environmental documentation, the first of which was to be completed in June 2011 according to the grant application. Pasadena staff assured both Committee members and the public that this date was incorrect. There will be environmental impact reports done for the IRWMP-funded portion of the project, for the portion staff referred to as the "Multi-benefit Projects," and for the County Flood Control Post Station Fire Sediment Removal Project. How these environmental impact reports will be coordinated is unclear. Stay tuned for how to get involved when more information on this is made available.

If you are interested in learning more, take a look at the Prop 84 Implementation Grant Application which is available online. The work plan for the Hahamongna Basin Multi-use Plan is in Attachment 3. Work Plan 1 of 5. The link is

http://ladpw.org/wmd/irwmp/index.cfm?fuseaction=TopDocListing&directory=Prop84ImplGrantApp&ttl=Prop%2084%20Implementation%20Grant%20Application

Staff also gave an update on the JPL east parking lot, all but 200 spaces of which is to become spreading basins. JPL is planning to move ahead with a $22 million parking structure on their own property. When this is built, the lab will no longer need the east lot parking in Hahamongna. Funding has not yet been approved by Congress, however.

The Advisory Committee passed a motion to recommend to the City Council that the Council urge JPL to plan its onsite parking garage so that the lab can also vacate the 214 space parking lot on the west side of Hahamongna (the lot immediately adjacent to the JPL campus). You may recall that the west side parking lot is the so-called "temporary" parking lot which was carved out of park open space in 1986 and which has always been slated to return to open space. The motion passed unanimously/

The next Hahamongna meeting will be held May 24, 2011. The March agenda item concerning the HWP Annex and Environmental Education Center Planning was held over until this meeting.

Correction

In my prior post, I inadvertently left out an important piece of information. The trucks will be taking sediment out of Hahamongna not all year but rather from May until December at the latest, depending on the weather.

Hahamongna sediment removal project

The County of Los Angeles is planning a massive earth moving project to be implemented in Hahamongna on an emergency basis. Ryan Butler of the Water Resources Division of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works gave a detailed presentation concerning the Devil's Gate Dam and Reservoir Postfire Sediment Removal Project to the Hahamongna Watershed Park Advisory Committee at its November 30 meeting.

The project is required because of the Station Fire which burned nearly 100% of the undeveloped Arroyo Seco Watershed. Nearly one million cubic yards of sediment were washed into the basin in last winter's rains and the sediment level rose 15 feet in the basin. Should similar rains occur this coming winter, the sediment level could rise an additional 15 feet, putting the operation of the dam at risk, according to Butler. Devil's Gate Dam protects parts of Pasadena, South Pasadena, and the City of Los Angeles.

The County's plan is to remove 1,671,000 cubic yards of sediment from behind the dam. This amount was chosen because it is an estimate of the amount of sediment which could accumulate behind the dam should a 50 year intensity storm occur when the watershed is entirely burned. The excavation area is planned to be about 50 acres. About 15 acres of willow trees will be permanently removed when the basin behind the dam is widened and deepened. The precise number of trees to be removed has not yet been determined.

The huge amount of debris to be removed will require 300 - 400 truckloads of sediment per day to be removed Monday - Friday for at least three years at a cost of $35 million. The haul route will be along Oak Grove Drive and the 210 Freeway and will not impact the Pasadena neighborhoods adjacent to Hahamongna. The plan is to haul all the sediment away to the Manning Sediment Placement Site and Azusa Land Reclamation although the County is open to working with Pasadena to leave some fill onsite to create the proposed new sports fields. The County is also proposing a paved two land road on the west side of Hahamongna near the dam which could be used for future sediment removal projects. The road will cross the existing trail and could necessitate closing the trail and the Flint Wash Bridge during the work week for the three year duration of the project.

The project, scheduled to begin in September 2011, is proposed to be implemented on an emergency basis with an exemption from the California Environmental Quality Act so that no environmental impact report will be required, despite the massive scale of the project and the sensitive nature of the habitats in Hahamongna. The County will, however, be required to obtain all necessary permits from agencies such as the California Department of Fish and Game, the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Environmental damage will be mitigated although, as one Committee member pointed out, this mitigation does not have to be done in Hahamongna but could be done elsewhere.

Despite recognizing the necessity of sediment removal, the Advisory Committee and the public at the meeting expressed many concerns. One of the most frequently heard was a concern that other, less draconian, solutions had not been thoroughly explored as would have been required had the normal CEQA process been followed. One audience member referred to the proposal as a "scorched earth" approach which would have a catastrophic impact upon the wildlife in the park. Other issues raised were traffic impacts on an already congested Oak Grove Drive, air pollution and the nearby school children and noise pollution. Committee members questioned the need for a permanent two lane road in the park. The Committee also expressed a strong interest in jobs and contracts being awarded to local residents.

The Committee passed a formal motion which included the following:
Committee notification of when the project comes before the County Board of Supervisors
Posting of the County's project presentation on the Pasadena city website
Strong support for jobs for local residents, especially women and minorities
Request that the County study alternatives which would have less impact upon the natural habitat and which would cause less noise, air pollution and traffic impact
Request that the County study the maintenance road in terms of its surface, permanent nature, and width
Request that the County seek opportunities to reduce the impacts of the project upon park users
Regular quarterly updates to the Committee about the project from city staff and a presentation by County staff after they have their permits from the regulatory agencies

Recap of Hahamongna Committee meeting

At its September 28 meeting, the Hahamongna Watershed Park Advisory Committee held a discussion about how to proceed with the planning for the Environmental Education Center to be located on the former Forest Service campus in Hahamongna. Rather than forming a subcommittee to formulate recommendations, the Committee decided to hold a public meeting to be led by a facilitator who will solicit input from both the Committee members and the public. This will probably be held at one of the regular upcoming meetings of the Committee which are held every two months on the fourth Tuesday of the month although a date has not yet been finalized.

The Committee also received a letter from the LA County Department of Public Works, Water Resources Division, informing them of a major sediment removal project in Hahamongna necessitated by the Station Fire. As the letter notes, the Station Fire burned over 160,000 acres in the San Gabriels including the Arroyo Seco and deposited 936,000 cubic yards of post fire debris. The sediment removal in Hahamongna will make room for future sedimentation that is expected to occur. Construction is expected to begin as early as next summer. The County will make a formal presentation of this project to the Advisory Committee when the details have been finalized.

The Committee also asked for a report on the Hahamongna Basin Multi-Use Project which includes a sediment removal component as well. The latter is one of the two Upper Los Angeles River Watershed projects selected to be included in a Prop 84 implementation grant application by the Greater Los Angeles County Integrated Regional Water Management region. The initial amount requested was $2.971 million with a total cost of 7.255 million. Should the Prop 84 funds be awarded, the CEQA date is December 2011 and the estimated construction start date is May 2012.

Given the urgency of the County's Station Fire sediment removal project, the Committee asked that the County's presentation be given at their next meeting if possible. The date of the next meeting has not yet been set.

Council to reconsider more fields in Hahamongna

The following is the text of a letter I sent to the Pasadena City Council urging them to take another look at adding the sports fields in the current Hahamongna Master Plan. The Council has been hearing from me for about 12 years now, however. They need to hear from NEW voices about how important it is to Save Hahamongna! Thanks so much to all the bloggers who wrote so passionately about the need to save one of Pasadena's last great places - your comments are eloquent proof that the support for the park is widespread and deeply felt. I hope that you who are reading will add your voice as well because the decisions now being made will shape the park for decades to come.

Mayor Bogaard and City Council,
The Friends of Hahamongna urge the City Council to reconsider the building of additional sports fields in Hahamongna Watershed Park. We agree with the Arroyo Seco Foundation, the Pasadena Audubon Society, the Hahamongna Watch Group and the over 1280 concerned citizens who have signed the Save Hahamongna petition, all of whom have asked that this issue be revisited.

As you know from our many appearances before the Council, Friends believes that Hahamongna is an irreplaceable environmental treasure, a remnant of wild California in the heart of our densely settled urban region which should be preserved for future generations. With some creativity and persistence, sports fields can be built anywhere - even atop a parking garage as is the Maranantha High School sports field in Pasadena. The rare habitats, the trails, the equestrian recreation, the very serenity of Hahamongna cannot be moved elsewhere. Once it is gone, it is gone for good.

And therein lies the heart of what we are asking you, the City Council, to do. We ask you to make the politically difficult choice and take the long view of what will be best for the future rather than continuing on with this ill-advised compromise. Building sports fields in Hahamongna with the attendant noise, lights, car traffic and pollution may help to alleviate the sports field shortage for a few years but at what a cost?

We ask that, with your leadership, the City of Pasadena live up to its own Green City Action Plan which states that "Pasadena values the beautiful Arroyo Seco... and protection of the native animals who live in these habitats." Building sports fields in Hahamongna is the very antithesis of the protection of natural habitats as promised in the Action Plan. The residents of Pasadena and surrounding communities have overwhelmingly demonstrated their support for keeping Hahamongna natural by attending hundreds of meetings over two decades. They have written hundreds, if not thousands, of letters and emails, over 600 during the Arroyo Seco master planning process alone. They have not only signed the Save Hahamongna petition but many have contributed eloquent, thoughtful comments as to why they believe this special place must be preserved.

The time has come to hear these voices, to plan the additional sports fields elsewhere, and to save Hahamongna!

Sincerely,
Mary E. Barrie
Friends of Hahamongna

Prickly enough?

The Friends of Hahamongna were tickled to be awarded the Doo Dah parade's Thorny Rose Award. We appreciated the recognition of our efforts to shine the light on the less publicly acknowledged aspects of Hahamongna planning. Since we are unfailingly polite and generally mild-mannered, we bridled a bit at the adjective "prickly" but accepted it as a reference not to any grumpiness or ill manners on our part but rather to our tenacity and persistence in support of this great open space park - prickly like a foxtail in an Irish Setter's coat!

Imagine my amusement to see Tim Brick ask the following question on the Arroyo Seco Foundation website: "Friends of Hahamongna gets the Doodah Parade's Thorny Rose Award, but are they prickly enough?" At first I just grinned and the old saying came to mind about how you can please some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time.

Tim's question lurked in my mind, though, and, as I thought about it more, it seemed like perhaps a very good question indeed. Maybe none of the Hahamongna activists have been prickly enough. After all it was 19 years ago in 1991, that a consultant to the City of Pasadena was quoted in the Star News as saying that "the consensus of opinion that we are hearing is that people really want it left as natural as possible." For 19 years the community has asked for a natural park and we're still fighting off roads and more soccer fields?

Maybe it is time to get prickly.