On Friday, not even a passing storm was enough to prevent federal, state and local officials from gathering beside the river to hold a groundbreaking ceremony eight years overdue.

The project will eventually allow the city to take over annual maintenance of the seven-mile levee system, which runs from College Boulevard in Oceanside west to the Pacific Ocean.

During the ceremony, Col. Thomas Magness of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, congratulated his staff and the political leaders who worked for eight years to solve environmental concerns over endangered animals in the flood channel. Those concerns kept the clearing effort from moving forward since the levee project was finished in 2000.

"We could not wait one more day, one more minute, to get started on this project," Magness said.

Many who spoke at Friday's gathering said that Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, was instrumental in helping break the bureaucratic logjam that kept the final clearing effort stalled for nearly a decade. Issa's 49th District covers the northernmost section of North County, including Oceanside, Vista and Fallbrook.

Oceanside Mayor Jim Wood said he attended a closed-door meeting with Issa, the Army Corps and various environmental agencies, at which the congressman threatened to seek congressional action to allow the channel to be scraped clear and covered with concrete if permits were not issued.

"After that, it seemed to be a little easier of an issue," Wood said.

Issa, who attended Friday's ceremony, said he became frustrated that hundreds of acres of set-aside land inside and outside the river channel were not being seen as enough to compensate for the trees and other plants that would be cut down in the course of the mowing effort.

"We had reached a point where there was no way that the city of Oceanside would be able to afford to maintain (the channel)," Issa said. "That was when I talked about taking it back to Congress for reauthorization."

Crews with Washburn Grove Management from Hemet will begin extensive clearing efforts in the channel today, following a carefully crafted path designed to spare as much animal habitat as possible.

Kyle Washburn, owner of the brush-cutting and tree-removal service, said his crews will begin with high ground close to the San Luis Rey's mouth just south of Oceanside Harbor, moving east as water from recent rains subside. All equipment must be out of the riverbed by March 15 when nesting season begins for endangered birds such as the least Bell's vireo. More than 100 nesting pairs of the endangered bird have been spotted in the river.

Though many speculated that the clearing effort would not be finished by nesting season, Washburn said he expects to get the initial phase of clearing finished by mid-March.

"Of course a lot of it depends on whether or not the weather cooperates," he said. "But we think we should be able to mow the whole thing by March 15 if we work seven days a week."

Contact staff writer Paul Sisson at (760) 901-4087 or psisson@nctimes.com