Razing a large homeless enclave in the Sepulveda Dam Basin and relocating its residents will be part of a project to clear a debris-choked drainage channel that runs along Burbank Boulevard in Encino, city officials say.

Between 14 to 20 homeless camps are along the channel that runs south of Burbank from Balboa Boulevard east to Hayvenhurst Avenue, according to officials at L.A. Sanitation, a division of the city’s Public Works Department.

The basin is on federal land controlled by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the city has an easement for the drainage channel.

• Photos: LA Sanitation plans to clear drainage channel and uproot homeless campsites

The department has reached out to Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office for help in getting those displaced access to services and shelter when the work starts, said Steve Pedersen, chief environmental compliance inspector at the sanitation department.

There are at least 40 people living near the channel, officials said.

“We have everything from tents to structures and tree houses,” Pedersen said of the situation in the basin, which officials say cannot continue. “People have been bringing in a lot of building material. When all the work gets done, we just don’t want them to migrate back into the neighborhood.”

Garcetti’s office said it is working on the matter.

“The Mayor’s Homeless Outreach and Proactive Engagement (HOPE) teams are coordinating strategy to address the homeless encampments in the Sepulveda Basin,” Garcetti spokesman George Kivork said.

HOPE teams – which include representatives of the L.A. Homeless Services Authority, the Los Angeles Police Department, and Bureau of Sanitation – regularly visit the site.

So far, housing resources have been identified, including crisis housing, detox beds, and sober-living units. The teams are also being deployed in the surrounding areas, Kivork said.

Preliminary plans for the cleanup were presented on Feb. 28, during a community meeting in Encino attended by 35 people, including representatives from several environmental groups.

The channel is in an environmentally sensitive area. The basin has an array of vegetation and about 250 species of birds. Work crews will try to avoid damaging native flora and bird nests while removing only non-native trees and plants, if possible, Pedersen explained.

It is not known at this time how many trees and bushes will have to be cleared to gain access to the channel.

A biologists will also be on site to monitor the work.

The cleanup plan must be approved by the Corps, the Regional Water Quality Control Board and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Clearing the 7,400-foot-long channel, which empties into the Los Angeles River – will be done in two phases. More than a routine cleaning is necessary, said Pedersen. The work could take from about two weeks to more than two months, depending on whether heavy equipment or pick and shovel crews are used.

“This time, because of the (recent) flooding, the work needs to be more extensive,” said Pedersen.

Carvel Bass, an ecologist with the Corps’ Asset Management Division, said that the agency has met twice this year with sanitation officials about the channel project.

“We’re basically looking at how they want to approach it and looking for any hot-button issues. Our goal is making sure the environmental issues are being handled properly,” Bass said in a telephone interview.

The advance notice of work in the basin contrasts sharply with a big project the Corps conducted in December of 2012.

Without notice, the Corps clear-cut an estimated 80 acres of what some said were mostly native shrubs – and homes for many local and migratory birds. At the time, the Corps said it was necessary to help police in an area known for homeless camps and lewd behavior.

Environmentalists were outraged, and the Corps said later that residents concerned about the work should have been better notified.

“We were one of the groups very upset with the Corps several years ago,” said Glenn Bailey, a member and former chairman of the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Areas Steering Committee.

Now, the city’s approach is welcome.

“Well first of all, obviously they are committed to moving ahead, but that’s good news,” Bailey said. “Overall, it’s a positive improvement … and hopefully they will consider all of our input,” he said. “They have (given) a public commitment to move ahead.”

Bill Bowling, Schools and Community Program Manager for Friends of the Los Angeles River, said it’s good that the department is being sensitive to the environment and that the channel will once again be functioning.

He thought the meeting went well.

“I’m in favor of removing the non-native (vegetation),” Bowling said. “We’ve got to consider that the channels were designed for flood protection and we’re interested in public safety.”