County Lawmakers Seek Funds for Water Projects : Congress: With February’s flooding still fresh in their minds, local representatives ask House panel for assistance.

WASHINGTON —  Southern California lawmakers, including the two representatives from Ventura County, sought funds Wednesday for a variety of water projects.

The congressmen, appearing before the House Appropriations subcommittee on energy and water development on its annual “California Day,” were told that they face tough competition for especially scarce funds.

“We’re in a heap of trouble,” said Rep. Vic Fazio (D-West Sacramento), the panel’s second-ranking Democrat. “The committee is $400 million short of what it needs to fund the President’s (budget) package.”

February’s flooding was on the mind of Ventura and Los Angeles county representatives.

Reps. Robert J. Lagomarsino (R-Ventura) and Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) asked for $320,000 for a flood-control survey for Calleguas Creek, which overflowed its banks during the storms. Ventura County has asked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to reinforce the channel, but the corps resisted building flood-control projects to protect farmland.

Gallegly said he had asked the subcommittee last year for money to complete the feasibility study. This year, he said, there is far more urgency.

“Last year, Calleguas Creek was barely a trickle of water,” he said. “But just six weeks ago, raging floodwaters tore through their levees and over hundreds of acres of some of the world’s richest farmlands.”

The lawmakers also requested $1 million to study whether work is needed on Santa Paula Creek to protect the nearby city. They also asked $6.2 million for dredging and construction at Ventura Harbor and $2.8 million for dredging at Channel Islands Harbor.

Los Angeles lawmakers requested nearly $7.6 million for water and recreation projects in the Sepulveda Basin, Los Angeles River and Hansen Dam during the next fiscal year.

Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Los Angeles) again went to bat for Mayor Tom Bradley’s plan to revitalize the Los Angeles River. The lawmaker asked for $300,000 next year to begin a study of the river’s recreational and environmental potential. The 18-month study is expected to cost $1.5 million--shared evenly by federal and city governments. The remaining money would be sought the following year.

The 58-mile concrete-lined channel begins in the southwest San Fernando Valley and flows east and then south, past downtown Los Angeles to Long Beach. It has been used primarily for flood control for decades by the Corps of Engineers.

Congress last year appropriated $1 million for such a study, but the Army Corps, citing a conflict with its flood-control plans, reduced it to a $250,000 survey, which is still under way. The corps, however, has expressed pessimism about the potential for river restoration.