Members of various organizations that oversee different aspects of the Hahamongna Watershed Park are very concerned about a county plan to remove at least 50 acres of dirt sediment behind Devil's Gate Dam.

County officials have said the build-up of the sediment constitutes an emergency, and by assigning the project with emergency status they are planning to bypass state environmental laws, a sore point with Hahamongna activists.

Members of local organizations who advise on the Altadena-adjacent open space park are concerned that neither they, nor the general public,  were consulted about the county's proposed project, which would affect many surrounding communities including Altadena.

Tim Brick, Managing Director of the Arroyo Seco Foundation and chairman of the Metropolitan Water District, describes the project as a manufactured emergency and said he is very disappointed in how the county has gone about proposing this project.

"This project doesn't seem like a sustainable long term approach and certainly doesn't take into account the value of the Hahamongna area," said Brick, whose organization oversees wildlife restoration projects in the area. "This project will destroy 50 acres of the habitat and surrounding area, permanently scarring the most precious part of the basin. What they need to do is use natural stream flows in order to move debris through the system, rather than going through every 20 years and doing upkeep."

According to the county report, which was presented by Ryan Butler of the county Water Resources Division to Pasadena's Hahamongna Advisory Committee on November 30, the project will begin around September 2011 and will take up to three to four years to complete with an estimated budget of $35 million.

It will involve up to 400 trucks hauling sediment to pit mines in Irwindale and Azusa using side streets and the 210 Freeway Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the May to December work season during those three to four years of the project.

Kerjon Lee of the county Department of Public Works said the move is necessary to make sure the Devil's Gate Dam has enough capacity to handle increased debris flows that have resulted from the Station Fire.

"All of these choices are really difficult ones to make," Lee said.  "When we're faced with a significant amount of sediment behind our dams, the safety of our dams is threatened."

Therefore the safety of those who live below the dam would also be threatened. But no one is arguing that no action needs to be taken. Instead, activists are saying that there must be a better way besides what the county has proposed.

With many stakeholders involved in the fate of Hahamongna, many are upset that the project will remove a significant number of black willows and old oak trees, as well as other vegetation that wildlife in the area rely on.

"They don't need our input since they've declared emergency status," said Laura Garrett of the Audubon Society. "Which is terrible because we have ideas about how to do it so the results won't be as devastating. It's very frustrating because this has been happening for years and years. Why are they waiting until it is a crisis?"

She said if the county had been repairing the dam all along they would have gone through the normal environmental process required by state law, which would have taken wild life and natural resources into account.

"If they did it slowly over time we wouldn't be in this situation," she added.

Instead, she said, the county should pursue less impactful options, such as sluicing the sediment down the Arroyo Seco streambed, a process where you release some of the sediment with water so it's more of a natural stream instead of a channel.

Mary Barrie, a member of the Friends of Hahamongna non-profit group, also disagrees about the emergency status, and is concerned that such a huge project will be taking place without a thorough consideration of possible alternatives.

"We should have a chance to find out what impacts this project will have, as well as an opportunity to see what alternatives there are," said Barrie. "I commend the county for coming forward and doing this presentation, and I know the process is just starting, but we could do better. "

According to Brick, when the dam was built in 1920 the basin got used to sediment, so the county got used to slowly repairing the dam to accompany small amounts of sediment, rather than cleaning it out. They changed the whole design of the dam to make a smaller reservoir pool, without taking into consideration the dangers caused by fires and floods from the Altadena mountains.

"It's a hard situation because of obvious safety concerns but this project will be very detrimental to flora and fauna in the area," said Emily Stork, a member of the Hahamongna Advisory Committee. "If there were any other options, I would love to see them explored."

She added, though, that county officials have told the committee that there are no alternatives, and if the dam is not cleared out, communities below it could be threatened.

Conflicts over impacts to the Hahamongna park are nothing new, as activists have sparred with local officials over proposed soccer fields, bike trails, roads, and even a parking garage on JPL land that was once planned.

On the other hand, said Stork, this project is larger than anything Hahamongna activists have ever seen.

"We're talking about more traffic and construction than we've ever seen in that area," she said. "There will be an immediate impact to the basin and Hahamongna, but also impacts to trails, roads, JPL, the nearby high schools, and the freeway. There was a lot of deferred maintenance over the years and now the question is, do we have a choice? Are there other options?"

Altadena activist Lori Paul said while it's clearly necessary to remove the sediment, the county's plan is not innovative. She's concerned about the 15 acres of native black willows and other vegetation that will be removed.

"There must be a way to protect those 15 acres," said Paul. "When nature puts these trees and habitats and boulders in the way of floods, it naturally mitigates them. The county's plan would just create more sediment."

She also believes it's hypocritical for the county to declare it an emergency since no immediate action was taken after the Station Fire and the sediment removal won't begin until next year.

"If it's truly an emergency, it's going to be this winter or the next," she said.

As for the county getting around public input and ideas from various stakeholders, Paul said she thinks it's always wise to talk to people most familiar with both protecting the wildlife and keeping people safe.

"This is an opportunity for innovative solutions," she said. "No activist wants any damage to be done to the dam or those who live below it, but it's not an either/or situation. Those trees are there because they have a value, and that needs to be taken into consideration."