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HEART OF MALIBU WETLAND HISTORY AT A GLANCE The aboriginal Chumash lived in what we now call “The Heart of Malibu,” more than 30,000 years ago. They called it “Humaliwu,” which translates to “Where the surf sounds loudly.” The Chumash became known as great mariners because of the seaside environment in which they lived. The beach area around the outlet of Malibu Creek resembles a Mediterranean climate, creating a mariner's paradise. The creek flow forms the point made of soft sand and cobble stones. About 700 yards downstream, about where the pier now stands, was a small harbor, or cove, where the waves break close to shore. It was here the Chumash launched planked canoes, paddled out, and easily got beyond the waves. Once beyond the surf, they dove for abalone and lobster, and fished for halibut and bass. The wetland area – thriving with wildlife – was ideal for hunting freshwater fish and fowl, while also growing vegetables and fruit. It's also a floodplain where the wetland field would be immersed during a torrential downpour. The field is hundreds of acres of wetland and still provides a nesting area along the Pacific Coast migratory flyway. More than 107 species of birds have been identified while making stopovers. Majestic Great Blue Herons, Snowy Egrets and Bald Eagles forage for food around the uplands of the wetlands. More than 13 species of fish have been identified in the creek and lagoon area, let alone the ocean. In 1542, famed seaman Captain Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, leading a Spanish expedition, docked here to get fresh water on his journey north. Many well-crafted canoes came to greet his ships. In his log, Cabrillo called the area "Pueblo de las Canoes" (Town of the Canoes). It would be 200 years before the Spanish returned, and the results were tragic for the Chumash. Their land was taken in the name of the Spanish crown in 1772 and renamed “Las Malibu.” They were forced into mission servitude, and by 1822 the population of Chumash people in the Malibu tribe had plummeted from about 20,000 to 3,000. Ownership of Malibu land transferred precariously over the next 100 years. After the Spanish-Mexican Revolution in 1822, Jose Tapia was the first to claim Rancho de las Malibu when the Mexican government confirmed many Spanish Concessions with Mexican Land Grants. In 1848, Leon Victor Prudhomme married Tapia's daughter, Maria and gained ownership of Malibu for 200 pesos in cash and 200 pesos in merchandise. In 1857, Mathew Keller accepted a quit claim deed paying the Prudhommes $1400 for three square leagues of land (13,330 acres). In 1892 Keller sold his beautiful coastline property for $10 per acre to Frederick Hastings Rindge. The Rindge family owned all of Malibu, from Topanga to the Ventura County line. In the first battle to protect its nature, Rindge's widow, May, fought off an effort to route the Southern Pacific Railroad through Malibu by establishing her own private railroad. The State of California later succeeded in obtaining a right of way to build the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) through her property. Dirt removed from around the highway was dumped along Malibu creek and claimed by the Rindge-Adamson family as their property. Construction of PCH was immediately followed by building a row of houses on the sandy dune along the beach side of the wetland, which became known as the famous "Malibu Movie Colony." Colony houses were built for weekend getaways. Cookie-cutter septic systems were installed to provide sewage treatment for a family of four. Yet, film stars had massive parties with hundreds of guests, frequently overloading these insufficient waste systems, allowing raw sewage to seep into the neighboring wetland. Today, many of these weekend getaways have become permanent residents that continue to rely on old, failing systems. In 1969, the Tapia sewage plant was installed at the bottle neck of the Malibu Creek Watershed to accommodate massive development in the upper watershed. Today, the upper watershed includes the five cities of Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, Agoura Hills, Hidden Hills and Calabasas. In 1969, a population of approximately 3,000 lived in the upper watershed. Today, it has grown to more than 100,000. The Tapia Treatment Plant is capable of treating up to 16 million gallons of waste water per day now and is permitted by the Regional Water Quality Control Board to discharge directly into Malibu Creek. Tapia discharges directly into the Creek, approximately 4-acre feet per year of tertiary treated wastewater. However, Tapia is faced with the very practical problem of The 1995 Malibu Creek Watershed Action Plan (click here), which states in item # 28. "Water imports and discharge. Maximize environmentally acceptable reuse of reclaimed wastewater (household and treatment plant) and greywater, and reduce the importation of potable water. Encourage use of reclaimed water for irrigation of landscaping and community open space. Price reclaimed water more competitively. Harmoniously implement water conservation efforts and greywater ordinances between cities. Ultimate long-term goal of no-waste discharges into waters used for recreation and/or for sources of food." The 1995 Malibu Creek Watershed Action Plan (click here), is a product of a year-long facilitation process to resolve conflicts with the stakeholders in the watershed. In 2000, a scientific UCLA Study (CLICK HERE TO SEE STUDY) concluded that Tapia's discharge is harmful (Ref: pages 6-10 through 6-14 UCLA Study) to the downstream ecosystem and exacerbates many other problems in the creek and lagoon. Furthermore, the UCLA Study sites: "Developments inland, especIally successIve iteratIons of the coast highway, construction along lower Cross Creek Road and in the Civic Center area, and widespread use of fill, have transformed a quasI-natural landscape into a dysfunctIonal artlficlal system." The study adds, "Historically, the lower Malibu Creek Watershed contained extensive wetlands (see section 1.4), including a much larger lagoon and associated salt marshes, brackish marshes, and freshwater wetlands [approximately 300 acres]; a rich riparian zone associated with the Creek. Since the turn of the century, infilling, road construction and other activities associated with human population growth have reduced or illiminated wetland habitat. The existing wetlands have been degraded; although they still serve as habitat for fish and wildlife and perform limited hydrologocal and water quality functions, inappropriate hydrology and poor water quality impair these functions." In the late ‘60s, the Cross Creek shopping center was constructed with cookie-cutter septic systems and parking lots that drain directly into the creek. Each summer the shopping center's septic system causes a horrible stench. In 1987, a 9-hole golf course was illegally constructed next to the Lagoon and treated with highly toxic pesticides, fertilizers and other damaging chemicals that seeped into the lagoon. In 2004, Marcia Hanscom, director of the Wetlands Action Network, sued the land owner, stopped the toxic process and got the land dedicated to wetland restoration when the family matriarch passes on. In 1997, Bob Purvey called together Malibu Mayor Carolyn Van Horn, Marcia Hanscom and Malibu's Nature Trust Director Peter Ireland, to form a land trust for the purpose of acquiring privately owned property in the historical wetland area. In 1998, the Malibu Coastal Land Conservancy (MCLC) was formed and a plan to acquire 20 acres of wetland property known as the "Chili Cookoff" was introduced by MCLC board member and Treasurer, Ozzie Silna. Despite many contentious political battles with a radical fringe group of realtors and spec developers that lobbied the Malibu City Council with misinformation, MCLC, with extraordinary support from Silna, reached its goal in 2006 with the $25 million ($1.25 million per acre) city supported purchase of the 20-acre "Chili Cookoff" property for wetlands restoration. Now, kudos must go to the many city residents who contributed to the acquisition and the successful start to restoring the historical wetland. But a special kudo must go to Ozzie Silna for his plan, and its successful execution during a seven-year period. However, the city council, in its attempt to protect tax dollars generated by the existing shopping centers, is now attempting to accommodate more commercial development and its incumbent traffic by utilizing the Malibu-owned Chili Cookoff property for a treated sewage water detention pond to hold additional waste water discharge. However, the City Council just discovered that 20 acres is just not enough (read the Malibu Surfside News article on page 3). For many years, the city council, spec developers and the radical fringe realtors manipulated property rights issues, persuading many good Malibu residents that acquisition of the land in the center was cost prohibitive and the property owners would never negotiate. However, with the perseverance of MCLC and generous support from Ozzie Silna, members of the Watershed Council and local environmentalists from 2000 to 2006 - the Malibu Bay Company, owners of the Chili Cookoff, finally gave in and sold the property to the city for the common good. Home - Intro - History - Wetland Restoration - Videos - Organization |
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Small deposits of tar, which seeped up along the shore, were use to water-proof the seems between the planks that made their canoes. 
