AREA SLOPES WITHSTAND MAJOR RAIN\Soaking helps farms, jams area commute.

Byline: Michael Coit Daily News Staff Writer

The first major rainfall of 1996 was enough to soak crops and slicken streets for motorists Wednesday, but not enough to rattle residents in landslide-prone La Conchita.

Rainfall totals fell short of forecasted amounts by Wednesday evening, with totals ranging from half an inch to 1.25 inches across much of Ventura County. Chances for rain were expected to decrease today with the next storm not likely to roll in until early next week, National Weather Service meteorologists said.

"Most of the rain has been in Santa Barbara County and north. We got the tail of it," said Bob Cari, a U.S. Weather Service meteorologist.

Causing a rash of mostly minor traffic accidents, the rain snarled the morning commute in Ventura and Oxnard and hung around Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks in the afternoon.

Agoura Hills also received a soaking. City Manager Dave Adams said the troublesome hillside above Via Amistosa, where a home was wrecked and two others damaged in February 1993, is in good shape after being reinforced and protected by plastic sheeting last year.

"It's looking good. the water was running off well," Adams said after a lunch-hour visit Wednesday.

Ventura County growers were pleased with the soaking while La Conchita residents were glad the rain failed to pack the predicted punch.

"It came down pretty good for awhile. But everything seems to be OK," said Jean Kosztics, who lives with her husband, Steve, on the street abutting the hillside looming over La Conchita.

The couple returned to their home in May after staying with a daughter in Carpinteria for six weeks in the wake of a landslide that destroyed nine homes. Like most residents of the seaside village, the Kosztics are reluctant to leave despite the threat of another landslide this winter.

"We're concerned about how heavy (the rain is) going to be and how long it's going to be," Jean Kosztics said. "We hope for the best, that's all. We want to stay here."

Even if La Conchita is spared another massive landslide, the community is threatened by mud flows from a canyon in the hillside and from mounds of soil left by last year's slide.

County sheriff's deputies increased the frequency of patrols Wednesday, driving through La Conchita each hour. The hourly patrols in rain were part of an emergency response plan created after the spring landslide.

"We've developed an incident action plan. We're ready if something should happen," said Senior Deputy Chuck Buttell.

"We could all use the rain," he said. "We just don't need a season's worth of rain in a 72-hour period."

Agriculture officials said the rainfall will help the county catch up. Total rainfall during the season that began in October has ranged from about 3 inches to more than 5 inches across much of the county, compared with normal totals between 8 inches and 12 inches.

"It's a good start. The industry certainly needed it," said David Buettner, senior deputy commissioner in the Ventura County Agricultural Commissioner's Office.

The rain was enough to stimulate growth in fields and orchards. Rain washes salt accumulated from irrigation water away from roots of row crops, and it also washes away dust accumulated on leaves of citrus trees.

"A couple of storms back-to-back will help," Buettner said.

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PHOTO

Photo (1--color) Dressed for the weather, a woman in Thousand Oaks scurries through the area's first major rainfall of 1996. Dusty Locke/Special to the Daily News (2--SIMI only--color) Rescuers work to extracate the driver of a Honda Accord after she lost control on rain-drenched Sycamore Drive in Simi and hit a tree. Andy Holzman/Special to the Daily News