RUNOFF WORRIES RISING; RIVERBEDS NOT CLEARED; PERMITS WILL BE ISSUED.

Byline: Patricia Farrell Aidem Daily News Staff Writer

Cloudy skies proved a reminder Monday that the storm season is looming, yet weeks have passed since Los Angeles County officials declared a crisis in local riverbeds where jungle-like growth threatens to block the flow of storm runoff.

And while the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has promised to issue permits Monday to clear the waterways, Los Angeles County officials are concerned that the permits might involve conditions too stringent to meet.

Both sides will meet today before the county Board of Supervisors over issues that have become so heated that Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich has recommended suing the state and federal governments if they try to block the county from clearing the region's rivers before the rainy season.

``It's one thing to get a permit, but another thing to get so many conditions attached that the permit isn't viable,'' Antonovich aide Dave Vannatta said Monday. ``Mike's intent is that if we don't get the permits we need, the supervisor is saying we should sue.''

Proceeding under the threat of a lawsuit might be the only way to remove brush and wetlands from riverbeds before the predicted El Nino rainstorms begin, said James A. Noyes, chief deputy director of the county Department of Public Works.

``My concern is that we have a serious problem out here,'' Noyes said. ``My engineer tells me that some of these areas could cause a serious hazard. Ultimately, how it is to be handled is for the board to decide, and if it takes having to sue someone that's what we might have to do.''

At issue in the Santa Clarita Valley is the vegetation growing in the Santa Clara River and its tributaries, some of it native, but the most troublesome of it the non-native bamboolike arundo.

County and Santa Clarita city officials worry that the plant life could block water flow in the event of heavy rain, and flood surrounding development.

Federal officials agree the waterways should be cleared but insist that the county establish new streamside habitats to replace those it destroys. Also, the Army Corps could prohibit the use of bulldozers in sensitive habitats.

``We are suggesting that some areas be hand-cleared to save that riparian habitat,'' said Fred-Otto Egeler, chief of public affairs for the corps. ``But there are some places where you need to bulldoze, where water can't spread in normal spreading grounds because of development.''

Last week a contingent of environmental groups including Friends of the Santa Clara River called on the county to maintain the plant life natural to the river and remove just the non-native species.

That, Noyes said, would be impossible in some areas of the river because development lies too close to the banks.

``This whole thing goes back some 30 years ago when it was public policy to build flood control facilities to allow maximum land development,'' Noyes said. ``That meant making natural rivers into concrete channels. That's not the thinking in the '90s, but we're stuck with that system. We have to work with what we've got. We have levies and bridges that make it hazardous to allow any vegetation to remain.''