CASTAIC LAKE MEASURE SINKING NEARLY $1 MILLION GRANT LIKELY TO BE SCUTTLED.

Byline: Carol Rock Staff Writer

CASTAIC - Legislation that would have provided a $900,000 state grant for money-troubled Castaic Lake appears to have fizzled, following lobbying by boaters who prefer the money go toward expanding water recreation and education programs rather than operating public parks.

Senate Bill 1043, which dictated the formation of a Castaic Lake Task Force composed of representatives from the state departments of Water Resources and Boating and Waterways, Los Angeles County and the boating community, would have provided the one-time $900,000 grant from the Harbors and Waterways Revolving Fund to the county to operate the state-owned Castaic Lake Recreation Area.

``I have very reliable sources in the capital who tell me that the bill will most likely be gutted and amended,'' David Johnson, spokesman for the Department of Boating and Waterways said Tuesday. ``The bill has been inactive for six months.''

The fund provides loans and grants to cities, counties and districts to provide boating education and safety programs, as well as to build small- craft launching areas. With requests outnumbering resources at least three-to-one (during the last cycle, $185 million in loan applications were submitted for the $60 million to $70 million available), Johnson said his office has a hard time fulfilling demands.

``The $900,000 is a dead issue,'' he said. ``It was going to be for operations and maintenance, but since then, the county has raised day-use and boating fees and made some personnel reductions. They seem to be on the road for more feasible financial operation.''

The county sought the money earlier this year when it was looking to relinquish its contract to run Castaic for the state. At several points, it appeared the popular boat recreation area might close because neither the state nor the county want to commit funding.

``When the issue wasn't taken up by the Legislature we worried about what we were going to do to keep the lake open,'' said Sheila Ortega, spokeswoman for the county parks. ``The Board of Supervisors allocated $735,000, which allowed us to restore lifeguard services and open the swim beach. We have implemented the fee increases, which we will gauge after the summer.''

The county likely will cut the lifeguard staff in the off-season and continue with its reduced administrative and maintenance staff.

``We're about $556,000 short of what we were in fiscal 02-03,'' Ortega said. ``But we will keep the facility open with likely reductions.''

Johnson said the grant is not meant for such park maintenance.

``If you think about the one-time grant, that's not going to structurally help anything when it's spent,'' Johnson said. ``You would still have a deficit. I think the boating organizations might have thought the money would be better spent on something like a launch facility that would last 30 years instead of going up in a puff of smoke.''

The grant also would have set a precedent, since it was earmarked for operations and maintenance. Johnson said that money from the fund had never been used for such park operations.

``It's not a good fiscal idea to allow local parks to take boater money for operations,'' he said. ``It could be better used for infrastructure or projects to get more boats on the water.''

Johnson said that despite the failure of the bill, the committee did meet several times in Los Angeles and twice in Sacramento to discuss different scenarios that would make the park solvent and bring positive cash flow.

Carol Rock, [phone]

carol.rock(at)dailynews.com