PREVENTION OVERFLOW? HOMEOWNER WANTS CHANNEL LEFT ALONE.

Byline: Angela M. Lemire Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - With his back yard overlooking the South Fork of the Santa Clara River, Valencia resident Lou Florimonte has kept a watchful eye on the soft-bottom channel that stretches between Lyons Avenue and Orchard Village, since moving there in 1981.

But floods haven't concerned Florimonte as much as the county's maintenance program for the South Fork. In recent years, the Los Angeles County Flood Control District - with permits obtained from necessary state agencies - has used herbicides and extensive bulldozing to clear the tall grasses, shrubs and reeds that once carpeted the bottom between the channel's concrete sides.

Los Angeles County Flood Control District officials insist the clearance is necessary to protect neighborhoods within the 25- and 50-year flood plains that flank the South Fork. But Florimonte - who has appealed to the city of Santa Clarita for intervention - maintains the county's program is drastic, based on outdated information, and he fears that the herbicides could risk public health.

``I don't believe they need to be doing anything this drastic,'' Florimonte said Monday, looking over the river bed.

Specifically, Florimonte wants the county to stop using the herbicides until it's better known whether the chemicals are a public health risk. He is concerned about glyphosate, an herbicide ingredient that can break down to chemical carcinogens under certain conditions. Researchers in Arizona and Oregon are performing new studies on glyphosate, he said.

Flood Control engineers last week explained the ongoing South Fork clearance program to the City Council and presented data that, they said, proved all vegetation had to be removed for the channel to handle maximum floodwater capacities.

Options such as widening the channel or increasing the height of its concrete embankments would be costly and not feasible, they said, and they disputed Florimonte's contention that the herbicides in use are dangerous.

Dennis Hunter, supervising civil engineer for the county Flood Control District, on Monday said the herbicides with glyphosate are commonly accepted by federal and state regulators and deemed safe. Officials have not been presented with information that says otherwise, he said.

The clearance program will continue, Hunter said.

``Public Works has already determined that this is necessary,'' he said. ``There is community support for this.''

The 10.4-foot-high South Fork channel years ago was designed to handle maximum floodwaters for a 25-year storm, one with an intensity that occurs only every 25 years, Hunter said, but the Flood Control District now requires that it handle up to 50-year storms.

The 140-foot-wide channel can handle 50-year floodwaters, but only if there's no vegetation along its sandy bottom, Hunter said.

But Florimonte has lived through heavy storm seasons and insists that past vegetation never caused flood problems.

And he has other concerns for dust levels, faster water flow in the channel and an increase of smaller animals like rodents in surrounding neighborhoods.

He says those side effects could be signs of greater problems: Dust could carry the riverbed's herbicidal chemicals to residential properties in the area, swifter waters could keep water from settling and recharging the underground water table, and the loss of riparian habitat could be causing small animals to search for food elsewhere, he says.

Allowing junk to collect in the channel is also a problem, he said, pointing out a discarded tire and plastic laundry basket in the South Fork riverbed.

Although the city of Santa Clarita has no direct role in the river's maintenance, the differing opinions last week prompted some City Council members to advise county flood control officials to again meet with permitting agencies, such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and state Department of Fish and Game, and discuss all options and ascertain whether extensive river clearance is really necessary.

Legally, the city can only make recommendations to the county, officials said. Since the city's takeover of flood control responsibilities is highly unlikely, Councilwoman Jill Klajic said she would like the city to come up with a policy that sets standards for river maintenance and preservation.

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Photo: (color) Lou Florimonte says the Santa Clara River channel can stay natural and still route floods away from neighboring homes.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News