EDITORIAL DAM FEDS ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS SHOULDN'T BE SETTING THE RULES OF VALLEY COMMUNITY LIFE.THANKS to a last-minute agreement, next month's San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. Fair will take place, on schedule, at the Hansen Dam Hansen Dam in Los Angeles County, California was built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District in 1939 and 1940. The project is located near the northern edge of the San Fernando Valley on Tujunga Wash, about one mile below the confluence of the Big Tujunga Wash Recreation Area in Lake View Terrace. But the annual fair - L.A's lone agricultural and entertainment event - will happen only because of the temporary benevolence BENEVOLENCE, duty. The doing a kind action to another, from mere good will, without any legal obligation. It is a moral duty only, and it cannot be enforced by law. A good wan is benevolent to the poor, but no law can compel him to be so. BENEVOLENCE, English law. of federal officials in the Army Corps of Engineers. That's not right. Local matters, such as communitywide events, should be the domain of local officials - not the federal government. The Corps built the Hansen Dam between 1939 and 1940 to protect lower parts of the Valley from flooding. Since then, it's retained ownership of the entire property, which includes the massive recreation area, with facilities for horseback riding horseback riding: see equestrianism. , fishing, picnics and golf. Although the 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. Department of Recreation and Parks is charged with running the recreational area, the Army Corps of Engineers ultimately calls the shots - as the difficulty in scheduling the San Fernando Valley Fair has proved. Before Wednesday's agreement, the Corps had threatened to cancel the fair, and leave the Valley and all of L.A. without its beloved 55-year-old tradition. The Corps maintains standard regulations - such as prohibitions on alcohol sales, overnight camping for exhibitors and late-night operating hours - that would have made hosting the fair impossible. Mercifully mer·ci·ful adj. Full of mercy; compassionate: sought merciful treatment for the captives. See Synonyms at humane. mer , the Corps has relented on its rules, but it's a short-term fix. The fair has been in need of a permanent home since 1989, and the Corps has shown little interest in letting the Dam dam, barrier, commonly across a watercourse, to hold back water, often forming a reservoir or lake; dams are also sometimes used to control or contain rockslides, mudflows, and the like in regions where these are common. Recreation Area serve that purpose. The Corps' agreement to loosen its rules is only good for this year. The Army Corps of Engineers reluctantly did the right thing this time - but what about future fairs and other events in the years to come? The same problem exists in the Sepulveda Basin, the Valley's largest and most important outdoor asset. The Corps, which operates the dam, has wide-ranging jurisdiction over the entire area. These shouldn't be matters for the Corps to decide on the basis of rules that have no particular connection to life in the Valley. The use of local public areas is a local question. The Corps serves an important role, but it has no business dictating or interfering with the community's values - especially when those values don't impinge im·pinge v. im·pinged, im·ping·ing, im·ping·es v.intr. 1. To collide or strike: Sound waves impinge on the eardrum. 2. on the Corps' appropriate function. City leaders need to work out a coherent set of rules that give Angelenos more say over how the Hansen Dam and Sepulveda Basin area are used. Add that to the next mayor's to-do list. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion