Funding added for Keys Creek flood control channel monitoring

An additional $75,000 was added to the San Diego County Flood Control District's fiscal year 2016-17 budget for the biological and cultural monitoring of the Keys Creek flood control channel.

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors, who are also the governing body members of the San Diego County Flood Control District, voted 5-0 Dec. 13 to use a fund balance from the 2015-16 fiscal year for the biological and cultural monitoring of sediment removal activities.

K. 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.

On Aug. 3, the county supervisors voted 5-0 to authorize a construction contract for access ramps serving the Keys Creek flood control channel while also authorizing the director of the county's Department of Public Works to enter into negotiations with K. Hovnanian for a biological maintenance funding agreement.

The access ramps, which were funded from the flood control district's 2015-16 balance, will allow for more efficient management of the biological mitigation site and are expected to be complete in winter 2017.