East Garden Grove Wintersburg Channel Treatment

Location: Orange County

Project Type: Restoration Planning

Status: Completed

Habitat Type: tidal wetlands

Date Completed: 2008

Cost: $175,000

Area Affected: 46 acres

Assembly District: 72

Senate District: 34

Congressional District: 48

Project Lead/Grantee:
City of Huntington Beach (Geraldine Lucas 714-375-8494)

This project conducted a feasibility study for diverting up to six million gallons of flow per day from the East Garden Grove Winterburg Channel into treatment wetlands in Huntington Beach Central Park.

The East Garden Grove-Wintersburg Channel (EGGWC) is an approximately 11.8 mile long regional floodcontrol facility in north/central Orange County. The EGGWC iscurrently the largest flood threat in Orange County. The EGGWC system was designed and built in the 1960s to convey 65% of the 25-year peak discharge (approximately a 10-year storm event). EGGWC is inadequate to convey the 100-year storm frequency design discharge and does not provide the desired level of regional flood protection as mandated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for adjacent properties to be
outside the inundation area of the 1% annual chance flood event. This project aimed to manage discharge through the channel while enhancing coastal wetland habitat.