Murrieta Creek Discussion: Wildomar Wants In

Wildomar Mayor Ben Benoit said his city needs to be included in any discussion about Murrieta Creek.

"It affects us," he said.

The creek runs through Wildomar and flooding is common in Benoit's city during heavy rains.

But Friday it was announced that Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone next week will push for passage of a resolution seeking to establish a four-way governing board to oversee flood containment modifications along Murrieta Creek to prevent a repeat of a disastrous flood along the waterway almost 20 years ago.

So far, the discussion leaves out Wildomar.

Benoit said he and city officials are pushing for more details and expect to have answers by Monday.

During the Board of Supervisors' regular meeting Tuesday, Stone will ask fellow board members to approve formation of a Murrieta Creek Joint Powers Authority, comprised of county officials, representatives from Murrieta and Temecula, as well as officials from the county Flood Control and Water Conservation District.

The purpose of the new body would be to prioritize and manage planned improvements along a seven-mile stretch of the creek that traverses both Murrieta and Temecula.

In mid-January 1993, several days of heavy rains caused the creek to overflow, flooding surrounding homes and business, resulting in roughly $100 million in damage.

According to Stone, in the aftermath, the federal government committed to covering 65 percent of modifications to the creek, including dredging and widening the channel, in a four-phase project with an estimated price tag of $55 million. But over the last decade, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has not made any changes except for a half-mile portion of the creek's downstream end.

"Our local members of Congress have yet to be successful in obtaining the appropriations of these federal monies to complete construction of phases 2, 3 and 4," Stone wrote.

He said the Flood Control and Water Conservation District has $30 million in taxpayer funds set aside for creek improvements, and there's no time to waste putting the money to work.

In March, Stone met publicly with officials from Murrieta and Temecula about moving ahead to finish the project without the feds -- a proposal that was well-received.

The Murrieta Creek Joint Powers Authority, if created, would decide how to acquire additional funding for the project, which would take around seven to 10 years to complete.

A draft JPA agreement will be drawn up by the Office of County Counsel after the cities of Murrieta and Temecula pass their own resolutions, according to Stone.

"The next flood will likely be even more devastating," Stone wrote in an introduction to his proposal. "The lack of sufficient federal funding (for) the design and construction of this necessary infrastructure has resulted in continuing risk to the public and their property." --City News Service and Toni McAllister contributed to this report.