Community correspondent Gary Altadena shares this picture of this morning’s “Hands Across Devil’s Gate Dam” event to protest the sediment removal plan for Hahamongna Watershed.
(Full resolution — about 7.0 megs — is right here).
UPDATE: Just received this statement in the raw from the county Department of Public Works:
STATEMENT ATTRIBUTABLE TO GAIL FARBER, DIRECTOR OF THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKSThe County of Los Angeles Department of Public Works, at the direction of the Board of Supervisors, has engaged the public in identifying a method of reducing flood risk for communities downstream of Devil’s Gate Dam in a way that is economically viable, socially acceptable, and environmentally sound.
As a result of millions of tons of sediment being washed into County flood protection facilities after the Station Fire, LA County Public Works formed a community task force, an executive-level working group of environmental and municipal stakeholders, and held more than a dozen public meetings on the issue of sediment removal and management. Our process of community engagement has led us to a number of sediment management alternatives for Devil’s Gate Dam that preserve a substantial amount of the existing habitat and identify additional areas for restoration within the reservoir, allow for increased use of stormwater as a source of local drinking water, and provide a sustainable reservoir maintenance program for the future.
Community engagement is essential to addressing the tremendous challenge of managing the sediment within our flood protection facilities. We are committed to a healthy public dialogue to lead us to viable solutions.
Note to Editor: An image and details of LA County Public Works’ Environmentally Superior Alternative for sediment removal and management at Devil’s Gate Dam are available at:
Love it! It was great to be out there. Is there a way to load this at a higher resolution so we can blow it up and see it bigger? Thanks Gary, thanks Tim.
I count about 75 people. Not much representation when you consider the entire population of Altadena (and Pasadena) and the environs. And…aren’t they protesting against the original intent of the dam going back decades? I guess I don’t understand the protest. Either way – it is good to live in a country that allows protests.
Glad to see fellow horseback riders there- a few more of us couldn’t make it this morning, but please count 3 more riders who would like Hahamongna preserved as a trail area!
Re. Ms. Farber’s reference to the “Environmentally Superior Alternative for sediment removal and management at Devil’s Gate Dam”… It is not, by any stretch environmentally sensitive, nor is it at all superior, and it isn’t even an alternative. THEY DON’T HAVE ALTERNATIVES.
What are called alternatives are really: scorched earth with a few trees, scorched earth with a little tree, scorched earth with a bush, etc… add to it permanent killing of willows or anything else that decides to sprout or fly or hop. The county thinks spraying herbicides in this watershed is just fine. Where did they get that idea?
Saturday, December 14, 2013 at 05:14 PMThe County DPW proposes 425 trucks per day, 12 hours per day, 6 days a week, 8 months in the year. This is 1 truck every 1.69 minutes descending into the Hahamongna basin to be loaded with silt. This would be plenty of pollution even if it were possible, but it’s not. Perhaps you can dump a truck in 1.69 minutes but you can’t fill one that fast, which means diesel trucks will be waiting their turn to load, idling in Pasadena and Altadena neighborhoods while they fume and rumble.
I’m concerned about air quality. I’m concerned about irreplaceable habitat. I’m concerned about property values. All these things can be considered in a kinder, gentler plan than what the County DPW proposes.
Everyone knows and accepts that debris must be removed from the basin and that public safety is paramount. Why not start start at this consensus point, and then work together using the most up to date methods and technologies of integrated resource and flood management to solve problems while serving multiple goals and delivering multiple benefits? I do not think it is useful to lump everyone who questions the current plans on offer as “protestors” — this only marginalizes and polarizes people, groups, and opinions.
In fact, many thoughtful people wish to engage constructively with County powers that be in positive ways to come up with the best plan possible. This will enhance the important natural systems that come together at Hahamongna, provide for public safety, and possibly cost less than $100M. We can do this.
At Altadena Heritage’s annual meeting yesterday, for example, membership voted to submit some comments on the Draft EIR in the form of several reasonable questions that need to be answered clearly to public satisfaction before a plan of action moves forward.
Altadena Heritage is a non-profit with more than 400 members that has been serving the public interest of the community for 30 years. in this time, we have worked to make Altadena a better place through positive engagement, public education, and lobbying on behalf of Altadena’s land and people. We are just one of several groups interesting in finding the best solutions possible for long-term management of of the magnificent resource that is the Arroyo Seco.