Los Angeles District honors San Luis Rey agreement
By Greg Fuderer
 Oceanside Mayor James Wood (left) and U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa join Col. Thomas Magness in presenting the Commander's Award to Ruth Villalobos. Villalobos led the District's effort to meet the environmental requirements necessary to move forward on mowing vegetation in the San Luis Rey River. (Click image to start video)
At the final event of a busy National Engineers Week schedule, Col. Thomas H. Magness IV celebrated the beginning of mowing operations when he returned to a recurring theme of his. “It’s a great day to be an engineer,” he said.
Bearing out the colonel’s comment, the rain stopped, clouds parted and the afternoon sun began to shine through onto the people celebrating the start of maintenance operations in the San Luis Rey channel.
“San Luis Rey is a splendid example of the effort the Corps of Engineers and the nation are taking to protect local communities and valuable environmental resources,” said Magness, commander of the Corps’ Los Angeles District. “Over the course of several years, from proposal through planning to design and construction and into maintenance, the San Luis Rey River Project has provided the Corps, the City of Oceanside and our partners with numerous opportunities to address new and exciting challenges.”
Magness said resolving the hydraulic requirements to move water safely through the San Luis Rey River channel was the easiest part of the Corps’ responsibility. He said the education and expertise developed over years of practice allowed them to design a project that would protect homes and businesses adjacent to the river.
The significant challenges to which Magness referred exhibited themselves in the need to adapt to evolving environmental laws. During construction of the flood risk management project, the least Bell’s vireo and the southwestern willow flycatcher were added to the federal endangered species list. Both birds nest and forage in the river, limiting the time of year that operators can remove vegetation and creating the need to mitigate for loss of their habitat.
It was the need to mitigate that led to lengthy negotiations with federal and state environmental resources agencies. The mitigation had to be determined before the Corps could remove vegetation in the river bed. And vegetation had to be removed in order to provide the flood protection necessary to transfer the project to its local sponsor, the City of Oceanside. Magness said engineers took a perspective that Solomon could surely appreciate. Faced with often conflicting responsibilities and guidance, their reply was, “Why not both?” The partners identified the habitat of native and migratory species that use the river as home and implemented additional environmental compensation outside the project area.
Magness said the Corps changed the width of the proposed channel configuration in response to environmental requirements and the designation of endangered species. The phased mowing operation will cut a swath through the riverbed that will allow the necessary flow and still provide valuable nesting grounds for wildlife species and foraging vegetation.
According to Magness, the project is not just about flood control. It is about how to combine the goals of optimizing flood risk management, while minimizing impacts to environmental resources, and providing recreation opportunities for generations to come.
“This process was not easy, as all here can attest to,” Magness said. The difficulty, however, was not unexpected by those gathered or by the staffs and advisors they represented. “If it was easy, they would not need us.” In introducing Congressman Darrell Issa, Magness said the secret is to find balanced solution to difficult problems. “You cannot have a solution as great as this one is without having a champion in Congress,” Magness said. “Thank you for being friend, advocate, champion and butt-kicker to find a way to get this project done. You understand what balance and problem solving is all about.” During his comments Issa said, “This is a great success, but it’s also a sign of how hard it has become to take care of the relatively simple needs of people for a flood control district.” In a statement that had to be music to the ears of every Corps district commander, Issa added, “If we’re going to be good stewards of your dollars, we should never open projects without giving the Corps of Engineers the dollars up front to do it in a short enough period of time so they can complete it with the original intent.” “This is a day to celebrate a project that is worthwhile not only for its flood control but for the habitat that it will provide on an ongoing basis,” Issa said. The celebration also proved to be a satisfying event for Oceanside Mayor James Wood. Over the course of negotiations, Wood said his main concerns was to address the river’s potential for flooding and its potential as a fuel source during wildfires. “Oceanside wants to be a good team player,” Wood said. "It’s a public safety issue, not only for flood control, but also as a fire hazard. Let’s to fix it, be willing to compromise, and accept changes in society and the environmental world.” Magness also recognized the significant contributions to project success by Corps team members Tiffany Bostwick, Debbie Lamb, project manager Greg Boghossian and his “legal engineer” Larry Minch. Magness saved his highest compliments for Planning Division Chief Ruth Villalobos. “There is no greater public servant that I’ve served with in my time in the Army than Ruth Villalobos,” Magness said. “She knows the project forward and backward and is personally responsible for getting us where we are today.” When weather conditions forced contractors to halt progress, the Corps maintained a heavy-duty mower onsite until March 14 in the event conditions had permitted a resumption of activities. “We knew when we started that it would be difficult to complete the work before the environmental window closed,” said Magness. "We could have waited until the fall to begin clearance operations. But we felt that every acre of vegetation we could remove was a step closer to the project's intended purpose for flood mitigation." Work crews were able to clear nearly 39 acres of vegetation between Interstate 5 and Benet Bridge. This represents about 25 percent of the project area and a measurable increase to the channel’s flood capacity. In addition to mowing with heavy equipment, work crews hand-cut arundo in areas that were less accessible. The removal operation was part of an effort to return the channel to its authorized water flow capacity for flood risk reduction. Magness stressed the Corps is prepared to act if events between now and September require action. “While we have had to suspend clearance activities, we continue to be confident in the overall ability of the project to handle any reasonably anticipated rainfall here in the last few weeks of the rainy season,” Magness said. “Local citizens can also be sure that we will have crews ready to resume clearance activities as soon as the environmental window closes (September 15th). And of course, our crews stand ready to take any necessary action should that ever be required.” | 
