County and Oxnard agree on funding transfer as SCR‑3 floodgate project nears completion

The council authorized a funding agreement to transfer grant and developer fair‑share funds to the Ventura County Watershed Protection District to complete the Santa Clara River (SCR‑3) construction project, a hybrid levee, sheet‑pile and floodgate system designed to protect thousands of homes in Oxnard.

Gerard Kepesusick, manager for the Watershed Protection District, described the project’s technical challenges and the solution used in the sensitive gap area: sheet piles, a telemetered floodgate and connecting flood walls that together provide the 1% annual chance flood level protection. Kepesusick said the construction program is “about 90% complete” and that the district will push to finish remaining work before anticipated wetter weather.

Council approved a funding agreement to transfer roughly $2.3 million in combined grant and developer funds to the district to reimburse construction of phase‑2 work; staff said the city has fronted costs and the agreement formalizes reimbursement. Officials said the completed protection, once certified, should allow FEMA map amendments and reduce mandatory flood‑insurance requirements for some federally backed mortgages.