The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is inviting public input on a project proposed for Santiago Creek it says will help with flood control protection.
In sections that flows through Santa Ana between the Interstate 5 Freeway and the Santa Ana River, the Army Corps of Engineers wants to replace trees and other greenery surrounding the Santiago Creek bed with a flood control channel that would better protect the surrounding area in heavier rains. The project would also make improvements to the Bond, Blue Diamond and Smith Basins further to the east in Orange.
This project dates back to the 1980s, when it was proposed as part of a series of improvement to how the Santa Ana River and its feeders handle water and potential flooding. It wasn’t until 2018 that Congress supplied the U.S. Army Corps with funding for the projects, which includes the Santiago Creek upgrades.
Now, residents along the creek are wondering if this plan is still the best option and have expressed concern over the potential negative impacts on the local environment. U. S. Rep. Lou Correa, who represents the area, has also recently raised concerns about “the cost-effectiveness of and need for the proposed work in my district” and had arranged a public meeting for Monday, Oct. 2, which was postponed late Friday afternoon because of the pending federal government shutdown.
“What we’re doing is we’re going back to the Army Corps and to the County of Orange to come up with some new proposals where we can essentially reach our objectives, which is to minimize the damage a possible 100-year flood could cause, but for them not to result in the trees being cut,” Rep. Lou Correa said. “At the end of the day, I want my community, those neighbors, the people who live in that area to make the decision whether this is something that is acceptable to them and to us in our neighborhood.”
Residents along the creek have a lot of concerns regarding the project’s destruction of the natural…
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