CONSERVATION GROUPS TO SUE ARMY CORPS SANTA CLARA RIVER DEVELOPMENT AT ISSUE.Byline: Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer Worried that the Santa Clara River Santa Clara River may refer to:
tr.v. pol·lut·ed, pol·lut·ing, pol·lutes 1. To make unfit for or harmful to living things, especially by the addition of waste matter. See Synonyms at contaminate. 2. as the Los Angeles River The Los Angeles River is an intermittent river flowing through Los Angeles County, California, from Canoga Park in the west end of the San Fernando Valley, 51 miles (82 km) southeast to its mouth in Long Beach. , a group of environmentalists plans to file suit today charging that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has rubber-stamped development along the natural waterway without studying the ecological impacts. Running 100 miles from the hills of Acton to the ocean near Oxnard, the Santa Clara River is one of Southern California's last natural waterways. But in the past few years, the Years, The the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109] See : Time corps has issued 120 permits to fill wetlands, build over the floodplain floodplain, level land along the course of a river formed by the deposition of sediment during periodic floods. Floodplains contain such features as levees, backswamps, delta plains, and oxbow lakes. and pave the sides of the Santa Clara River in concrete. Environmentalists contend that the corps has not studied the cumulative impact of all that construction in and along the river. They believe the changes damage the habitat of rare and endangered plants and animals Plants and Animals are a Canadian indie-rock band from Montreal, comprised of guitarist-vocalists Warren Spicer and Nic Basque, and drummer-vocalist Matthew Woodley.[1] They are signed to Secret City Records. , and can reduce the amount of river water that seeps into the groundwater basin. ``Most of the river remains in a natural state. Creatures are still living there. We don't think it's too late,'' said Ileene Anderson, an ecologist with the Center for Biological Diversity The Center for Biological Diversity combines conservation biology with litigation, policy advocacy, and an innovative strategic vision to secure a future for animals and plants hovering on the brink of extinction, for the wilderness they need to survive, and by extension for the , one of the groups filing the lawsuit. ``It's not like we're asking for no development. We're just asking for smart development, where we can build things without putting concrete in the river.'' Army Corps of Engineers officials said they couldn't comment on the anticipated lawsuit, but did defend their permitting process. ``Our focus is protecting wetlands. We have a difficult job of trying to strike the right balance between environmental concern and human development,'' said corps spokesman Jay Field. ``Sometimes people have to look at the other side of the coin that property owners have some right to do what they seek to do with their land.'' Regulatory Branch Chief Dave Castanon explained that the agency has recognized the development pressure on the river, and refused to issue permits to The Newhall Land and Farming Company The Newhall Land and Farming Company is a land management company based in Valencia, California, United States. The company is responsible for the master community planning of Valencia, as well as the management of farm land elsewhere in the state. a decade ago until the company developed a long-term plan to protect the river as it prepares to build the 21,000-home Newhall Ranch. ``We have a lot better handle on (the cumulative impacts) than we've ever had before,'' he said. The corps is also a partner in an $8.2 million study looking at how best to protect the 1,600-square-mile Santa Clara River watershed. But river advocates warn that the study could come too late. They say the corps and other water quality agencies are allowing developers to build in the floodplain and in areas too close to the river - opening the door to flood-control issues and storm-water pollution problems. ``(Development) can be done in a way that doesn't cause negative impacts, that doesn't put us in the situation we're in with Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. ,'' said Melanie Winter with The River Project. ``We just had to pass a half-billion-dollar Proposition O bond for water quality, and that's just the first of many half-a-billion-plus bonds. (Santa Clarita Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, ) can avoid those problems and the money it costs to fix those problems.'' The lawsuit is to be filed today in the U.S. District Court's Central Division in Los Angeles by the Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Santa Clara River and the Wishtoyo Foundation/Ventura Coastkeeper. Kerry Cavanaugh, (818) 713-3746 kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): map Map: SANTA CLARA RIVER Daily News |
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