COUNTY GETS OK TO CLEAN UP RIVERS; ISSUE OF REMOVING WETLANDS HELD UP APPROVAL.

Byline: Patricia Farrell Aidem Daily News Staff Writer

Work crews will began clearing Santa Clarita's clogged flood-control channels at dawn today and work through Sunday in hopes of removing vegetation from the region's waterways before the winter rains.

``They're going to be out at the crack of dawn,'' said Donna Guyovich, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works. ``They're going to try to do this as quickly as possible.''

Ending a monthlong standoff, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued permits Friday to allow the work in environmentally sensitive rivers and channels throughout the Santa Clarita Valley.

County officials had failed to obtain the necessary permits to remove wetland habitats that have been established in the Santa Clara River and its largest tributary, the South Fork River.

Panic struck in late summer when the county Department of Public Works realized flood-control channels throughout the Los Angeles area could not accommodate the heavy rains predicted this winter because of the developing El Nino effect. Santa Clarita Mayor Clyde Smyth said at the time that he was fearful that the rivers could back up and cause flooding in neighborhoods.

The corps' permit provides incentives for the county to avoid or minimize damage to wetland habitats in deciding how to clear environmentally sensitive areas. Where wetlands must be destroyed to clear channels, the permit requires that the county establish water habitats elsewhere, such as along the riverbanks. Failure to comply could cost the county the five-year permit to clear the channels.

The issue was a sticking point for the county, which views altered riverbeds as flood-control channels and believes the federal government should cover the costs of any mitigation measures it requires.

Work is scheduled to start in the South Fork near Wiley Canyon and Orchard Village roads and proceed east to the Santa Clara.

Some of the brush and bamboo-like arundo will be ground into mulch and left in the riverbed, Guyovich said.