Moreland Drainage Ditch
Maintenance Permitting – City of Ventura
The Moreland drainage ditch is a man made agricultural channel that conveys urban and agricultural runoff from an area that extends north of Olivas Park Drive and west of Victoria Avenue, including runoff from citrus and strawberry fields. Due to a buildup of sediment and organic debris within the channel, the Moreland ditch has flooded adjacent agricultural fields during storm events. The City of Ventura Engineering Department retained Envicom Corporation to obtain permits from the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), US Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) and the Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) to perform long-term maintenance. Envicom tasks included preparation of the project description and a Categorical Exemption and processing Trustee Resource Agencies permit applications. Based on Envicom’s efforts, CDFG issued a Section 1605 Streambed Alteration Maintenance Agreement and ACOE issued an exemption to the Clean Water Act Section 401. Due to the duration of the proposed maintenance impacts, after extensive coordination, RWQCB issued an Individual Water Discharge Requirement (IWDR) permit under the Porter-Cologne Act. Upon receipt of the permits, Envicom Corporation also negotiated a one time mitigation ratio of 0.5:1 to offset the proposed impacts. Additionally, Envicom Corporation coordinated with the Coastal Conservancy regarding a in-lieu fee agreement to comply with the required mitigation.