Widening channel could end flood insurance

Jenny Marder

Surf City Congressman Dana Rohrabacher requested federal funds on

Friday to study the possibility of widening the East Garden Grove

Wintersburg Channel to protect the surrounding area from flooding,

improve water quality and, eventually, eliminate the need for

residents to buy flood insurance.

The congressman asked for $300,000 from the Energy and Water

Appropriations Committee to determine if widening the channel is

economically and environmentally viable. The deadline for submitting

funding requests was Friday.

From its outlet at Bolsa Bay, the channel extends 12 miles inland

to Garden Grove. As the receptacle of an 18,000-acre watershed area,

the channel collects runoff from Garden Grove, Santa Ana, Westminster

and Huntington Beach.

The channel falls short of providing flood protection from a

100-year storm, an abnormally heavy rainfall that is predicted once

every century.

The shortfall became apparent in 1974 and 1983, when heavy rains

flooded part of Goldenwest Street and an area upstream of the San

Diego Freeway.

“A 100-year storm would inundate the area with massive flooding,”

said Aaron Lewis, spokesman for Rohrabacher. “We are trying to remove

the 100-year flood threat.”

The study would be part of a seven-year countywide plan that aims

to widen flood control channels to handle heavy rains and further

reduce the flood zones in Orange County.

“The hope is, if they widened the channel and reanalyzed the flood

impacts, it would hopefully shrink down the flood zone,” said Ricky

Ramos, associate city planner.

More than 11,000 homes in Huntington Beach are required to pay

flood insurance. The Federal Emergency Management Agency redrew the

flood zone maps three years ago after reassessing flood dangers in

Huntington Beach and surrounding cities.

“It would be crazy to rescind any kind of flood insurance

requirement without relieving the threat of flooding,” Lewis said.

After a spell of dry winters, the city has had numerous calls

about flood insurance, Ramos said.

“We’ve had complaints from residents who want to know why they are

in a flood zone and having to pay flood insurance when there’s not

any flood damage,” Ramos said.

But the threat of a 100-year flood is a real danger, Lewis said,

adding that these improvements will remove the need for flood

insurance altogether.

Widening the channel, which could cost as much as $130 million,

would consist of raising the sides of the flood channel, Lewis said.

The federally funded study would also look into options for

treating the dirty water that flows through the channel and into the

ocean.