Supervisors approve contract for Keys Creek access ramps

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors also acts as the board of the San Diego County Flood Control District, and on Aug. 3 the supervisors voted 5-0 to authorize a construction contract for access ramps serving the Keys Creek flood control channel.

In addition to approving the advertisement for bid of the contract and delegating the contract award authority to the director of the county's Department of Purchasing and Contracting, the supervisors also designated the director of the county's Department of Public Works (DPW) as the county staff person responsible for administering the contract and authorized the DPW director to enter into negotiations with K. Hovnanian for a biological maintenance funding agreement.

"The Flood Control District will now handle maintenance for the North County flood channel and biological open space, which will be easier to service with the construction of access ramps," said Supervisor Bill Horn.

Hovnanian built the Lake Rancho Viejo Unit 3 development which modified a section of Keys Creek to provide flood control. A flood control channel was designed and constructed to accommodate 100-year storm levels. The drainage easement was accepted by the county in January 2006 and the San Diego County Flood Control District accepted the flood channel in June 2008.

Keys Creek connects to the San Luis Rey River and is critical habitat for three endangered species. The Keys Creek channel not only has flood control purposes but is also a major biological link between the river and the upstream habitat.

An 8.38-acre biological mitigation site minimizes impacts from the Lake Rancho Viejo development, and in August 2006 K. Hovnanian agreed to manage the mitigation site and two other sites near the project. That agreement also called for K. Hovnanian to identify a long-term manager and establish an endowment for management of the mitigation site.

A biological maintenance funding agreement in which K. Hovnanian provides an endowment to cover annual operating costs in perpetuity will allow the San Diego County Flood Control District to take over responsibility for the biological maintenance and thus streamline the channel's flood control and biological mitigation management. The endowment amount is estimated to be $2,400,000 and will be managed by an investment fund manager.

The access ramps will also allow for more efficient management. The supervisors' Aug. 3 action also included adopting an environmental Mitigated Negative Declaration which includes a Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program. Native American monitoring will be included in the initial sediment removal activity to ensure the preservation of any cultural resources which may have washed downstream into the channel.

The San Diego County Flood Control District had a sufficient 2015-16 balance to fund the estimated $180,000 cost to construct the access ramps. Construction of the ramps is expected to begin in late fall and be complete in winter 2017.