EWP 2003 Wildfire Response Success Story: Ventura

City Grateful for NRCS Emergency Watershed Protection Work

Before the last flame of the Simi Fire was extinguished in November 2003, officials with the City of Simi Valley, California, began planning for the next potential disaster – flooding.

"Our immediate concerns were residential properties that were in danger of being flooded or in the path of mud and debris flows," said Dan Paranick, assistant to the city manager for the City of Simi Valley.  With a weather forecast for storms and hillsides left bare by the fire, Paranick said the citizens and city officials could see that flooding was definitely a potential problem.

Paranick said that is when he called the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) for assistance.  NRCS was able to offer both technical and financial assistance through its Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) program.

"NRCS came in and had flood control practices in our high priority areas on the ground in three or four days," Paranick said.  "Their response was just great."

The Simi Fire

The Simi Fire burned approximately 108,000 acres in late October 2003, destroying 94 structures and damaging 38.  NRCS worked with the City of Simi Valley, as well as the Ventura County Watershed Protection District, to implement flood control structures following the fire.  The City of Simi had four structures damaged by fire and the potential for more damage from flooding and debris flows.

Through EWP, NRCS obligated nearly $4.2 million for practices to prevent potential damages of $13.1 million in areas made vulnerable by the Simi Fire.  Those practices included:

• k-rails and sandbags to divert water and protect properties,
• trash racks and debris fences to prevent debris from clogging drainage ways,
• reseeding on areas void of vegetation, and
• four sediment basins to hold the increased water flow and debris from bare drainage ways.

The Piru Fire

Ventura County was also threatened by the Piru Fire, which burned nearly 64,000 acres in late October 2003.  The fire burned hillsides behind houses, leaving them vulnerable to erosion and mud flows.  To protect the properties, NRCS partnered with the city of Fillmore to install flood and erosion control practices to protect 24 homes through EWP.

All of the flood controls structures planned for Ventura County will be installed by mid 2004 at a cost of $4.26 million, which mitigated potential damages of $9.45 million.

Avoiding the Disaster After the Disaster

EWP was created by Congress to respond to emergencies caused by natural disasters.  It is designed to help people reduce imminent hazards to life and property caused by fire or other natural disasters.  NRCS can pay up to 75 percent of the cost of emergency measures, and the remaining 25 percent comes from local sponsors.

As the local sponsor, Paranick said the financial assistance provided by NRCS was helpful, but even more useful was the technical assistance.  "Honestly, the expertise provided by NRCS was the biggest help to us," he said.  "We don’t have the technical experts on staff that understand soils and flood control issues; NRCS does."

One of the many NRCS experts who worked on the EWP flood prevention effort following the fires was Steve Jewett, NRCS district conservationist for Ventura County.  He said his goal was to provide the city and others affected by the fires practical solutions to the potential problems they faced.

Even with flood control structures in place, Jewett said they were lucky not to receive big rains immediately after the fires.  "We were hoping we wouldn’t have to test the practices, and we didn’t," he said. Ventura County did not receive significant rainfall in November 2003.

Beyond Ventura County

According to U.S. Forest Service statistics, by the time the 14 major wildfires in southern California were extinguished in November 2003, 24 lives were lost, 3,710 homes were destroyed, and 750,043 acres were blackened.

When the fires were out and burned areas were safe to enter, NRCS responded in full force.  The agency detailed additional employees into southern California to respond to the requests for assistance.  "We wanted to immediately provide assistance to people who had lost so much and had the potential to lose even more," said Chuck Bell, NRCS state conservationist for California.  "EWP allows us to help communities avoid the disaster after the disaster by helping heal watersheds and prevent further loss of life and property."

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