CASITAS SPRINGS : County Sued Over Plan to Widen Creek

Two environmental groups have filed a lawsuit against Ventura County, charging that a flood-control project to widen part of San Antonio Creek in Casitas Springs would kill vegetation and harm steelhead trout.

Attorneys for Friends of the Ventura River and California Trout Inc., a conservationist group, filed a lawsuit this month against Ventura County, the Board of Supervisors and the Ventura County Flood Control District.

The lawsuit alleges that the county did not follow state environmental laws when it declared that a project to widen San Antonio Creek was an emergency. The environmentalists believe the plans should undergo more thorough analysis, including an environmental review.

County officials contend that the $1.15-million project, which calls for removing sediment and widening the creek along a two-mile stretch between the Ventura River and Fraser Lane, is needed now to protect about 30 nearby homes.

Earlier this year, rainstorms caused the creek to jump its banks, flooding the area and forcing residents to evacuate.

The environmentalists allege that the widening of the tributary will cause irreparable harm far downstream in the Ventura River. Moreover, they contend, it will affect the migration and spawning of steelhead trout in one of its last remaining runs in Southern California.

Conservationists are currently trying to secure endangered species protection for the type of trout found in San Antonio Creek.