A plan contrived years ago to pump treated wastewater upstream to Canyon Country to replenish the dusty Santa Clara River bed didn’t hold water, literally. Parts of the sandy riverbed are too porous and the grade of the river too steep to realize an ambitious vision to create a lake or running river in hopes of restoring the wetlands and changing a rather dull landscape according to the Daily News.
So the city of Santa Clarita and several other agencies are looking at their options with the goal of enhancing the dry stretch of Southern California’s last wild river. “There are sections that are porous, but the key is finding sections where it will work,” said David Peterson, a management analyst for the city. “What we want is to see what we can do as far as restoring the river.”
With the possibility of new federal funding, the city and the Army Corps of Engineers aren’t giving up on the plan hatched years ago, but stuck in limbo until last week. U.S. Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon, Santa Clarita’s first mayor, earmarked $500,000 in the House Energy and Water Appropriations Bill for the Army Corps of Engineers to conduct a feasibility study with the goal of bringing lush plant life to the river.
Read it here: http://www.dailynews.com/santaclarita/ci_6434069