Clearing the mud off a stretch of Los Angeles Avenue in Moorpark and hosing down the once-flooded streets inside the Villa del Arroyo mobile-home park is just the beginning of dealing with a long, drawn-out issue.

Residents and city leaders agree that more needs to be done to protect the flood-prone area from the currents of mud and water that washed down Los Angeles Avenue over the weekend, forcing the street's closure Sunday. It reopened Wednesday afternoon.

It's unclear, however, how best to deal with extreme weather conditions that hit the area or even who is obligated to do the work, city leaders and park residents said.

"There's a kind of gray area as to whose responsibility it is," said Joe Agnello, who manages the park with his wife, Barbara. "That still has to be hashed out."

Residents and volunteers stepped up to protect the community during and after the heavy rains, using rakes and even their bare hands to clear storm drains that quickly became clogged with mud and debris, Agnello said.

Drains often fail in storms

The drains, which seem to fail every time there is a major storm, are the root of the problem, said Moorpark Public Works Director Ken Gilbert.

"I'm not saying that the mobile-home park has been derelict or negligent," he said. "They just have a big problem on their hands."

As part of a civil lawsuit settlement reached in 2000, the park was to find a reasonable solution to keeping the park's drain and outlet operating smoothly, according to court documents.

It's fair to note that implementing a solution can be difficult because multiple agencies are involved, including the Ventura County Watershed Protection District and others that have a stake in the neighboring arroyo, said Moorpark Assistant City Manager Hugh Riley.

"It's not an easy engineering solution," he said, "and it certainly isn't a cheap one."

The issue is near and dear to park residents, but it may be too much for them to handle financially, Councilwoman Janice Parvin said.

2003 wildfires made it worse

City officials have been looking at the situation for several years in search of a resolution, although the problems seemed to worsen after the October 2003 wildfires, she said.

The area near the park was one of the hardest hit in the city this past week, she said.

Flooding and hill erosion also was reported on Gabbert Road north of Poindexter Avenue and on Princeton Avenue between Spring Road and Condor Drive, according to a damage assessment report released Wednesday. The Campus Park neighborhood also sustained some flood damage, and problems were reported along Grimes Canyon Road.

On Wednesday, clumps of dry mud still nudged up against sandbag piles near the mobile-home park's drains, and small pockets of standing water and sludge were the only sign of the muck that had come into the park. Floodwaters rose to as much as 4 or 5 feet in one area of the park Sunday, Agnello said.

Park resident Manuel Sanchez shoveled up what remained of the mud and had plans to use firehoses to clean the streets, while residents traveled more freely through the main entrance, driving past a sign that said, "We put the 'Ark' in Moorpark."

The situation was more of an inconvenience than a danger, Agnello said. No one was forced to evacuate, although mail delivery was suspended, a school bus couldn't make its usual stop and many residents were forced to take off work Monday, and some Tuesday, because they were unable to navigate the mud rivers that awaited them outside the park's main entrance.

The issue will likely come up as the city prepares its hazard mitigation plan, which will go to the City Council in a few weeks, Riley said.

City officials had not yet put a dollar amount on the damage.