OVLC has worked for over a decade to remove invasive giant reed (Arundo donax) from the Ventura River and San Antonio Creek. Giant reed consumes massive amounts of water, presents a serious fire hazard, alters hydrology, and as we saw in these recent storms, can dislodge, clogging infrastructure and causing flooding downstream. To date, OVLC and Ventura County Watershed Protection District have removed more than 250 acres of giant reed from the Ventura River Watershed. 

The recent January rain events were much needed for the flora and fauna on OVLC preserves, although they also created much destruction. The Ventura River and its tributaries raged, taking out large swaths of native vegetation (including mature trees), and sending massive boulders tumbling. The river forged new paths, creating deeply-incised channels all along the river corridor. The swimming hole in the Ventura River Preserve filled in with sediment, and the river, which previously collected there, now runs 100 yards away to the east. 

By any standard, I’m a newcomer to the Ojai Valley, having taken this job just a few months prior to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. As such, I had only heard from the old-timers about the power of flooding when the rain really comes. The big flood years of ’69, ’78, ’98, and ’05 live in infamy. As I write this, OVLC is working to acquire a property on San Antonio Creek that lost its home in the 1969 flood.