NEWS

From the County of San Bernardino

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 20, 2000

For more information, contact

County Public Information Officer David Wert

(909) 387-4082

dwert@cao.co.san-bernardino.ca.us

Dedication set for Grove Basin flood control project

Rain won’t threaten San Bernardino County’s dairy industry the way it has in years past thanks to a $10 million county flood control project to be dedicated this Friday, March 24.

During major storms, the Grove Basin and Riverside Storm Drain project will reduce flooding in the Agricultural Preserve south of Riverside Drive in Ontario between Euclid and Walker avenues, said Ken Miller, director of the San Bernardino County Transportation/Flood Control Department.

The project will go a long way toward preventing a repeat of the extensive damage and loss of dairy animals farmers suffered during severe flooding in February 1998. More than 10,000 cows and calves were killed and total damage in the county topped $20 million -- more than twice the cost of the flood control project.

“The floods of 1998 were devastating to San Bernardino County’s dairies, which contribute $1 billion a year to the local economy,” said 4^th District San Bernardino County Supervisor Fred Aguiar. “I’m proud that we were able to complete this project efficiently and quickly enough to prevent future disasters.”

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Grove Basin Dedication

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The dedication ceremony will be held on Friday, March 24, at 10 a.m. at the northeast corner of the basin on Grove Avenue just south of Riverside Drive. Parking is available at the corner of Grove and Riverside.

Supervisor Aguiar, San Bernardino County Transportation/Flood Control Director Ken Miller, Milk Producers Council Executive Director Bob Feenstra and David W. Smith, deputy state conservationist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service are scheduled to speak at the dedication.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service, a branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, provided $5.5 million of the funding needed to complete the project.

NRCS is funding the flood protection basin through the Emergency Watershed Protection program, which has been widely used throughout California and the nation to protect communities following natural disasters. Projects are evaluated from an economic, engineering and environmental standpoint and are completed in cooperation with a local partner, in this case, the County of San Bernardino.

The heart of the project is a massive, 25-foot-deep basin just south of Riverside Drive between Grove and Cucamonga avenues capable of holding more than 105 million gallons of water – equivalent to the amount used in a year by almost 650 typical families. It also consists of storm drains along Riverside Drive leading to the basin and a drainage pipe south of the basin.

At the peak of a 100-year storm, the west storm drain will divert 1,230 cubic feet of water per second into the basin while the east storm drain will divert 720 cubic feet per second. Once captured in the basin, the water will be released through the drainage pipe on Grove Avenue at a mere 285 cubic feet per second.

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Grove Basin Dedication

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Whenever possible, water in the basin will be retained to seep into ground water basins to conserve moisture for dry years and improve water quality in the region.

The project will protect dairies in a swath of land stretching from Riverside Drive south to Pine Avenue between Euclid and Walker avenues.

The county saved $750,000 to $1 million on the project by having contractors dig the basin for free in exchange for the 250,000 cubic yards of dirt they hauled away for their own projects. The haulers were charged inspections fees, and much of the soil was taken to nearby dairies to construct levees and berms to control dairy runoff.

The excavation began in January 1999. In March 1999, construction began on the basin and storm drains. Utah Pacific Construction built the basin and installed most of the storm drain for $4.73 million.

The county had to resolve right-of-way issues before the final western-most stretch of storm drain could be installed along Riverside Drive between Campus and Bon View avenues. That was handled in a separate $885,995 contract awarded to Ken Thompson Inc.

The total cost of the project was approximately $10 million, including design, right-of-way acquisition and construction.

The project was achieved through the cooperative efforts of the San Bernardino County Flood Control District, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Santa Ana River Watershed Group, the City of Ontario, Utah Pacific Construction, the Milk Producers Council, the Chino Basin Water Conservation District and the Orange County Sanitation District.

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