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WETLAND RESTORATION Wetlands are a vital organ in our ecosystem. A wetland acts like a filter, much like a kidney, to screen out impurities from water washing off the land, before it enters the ocean. A unique combination of soil, plants and water join together to process waste, out of the water. Waste contains Pathogens, which are composed of bacteria, toxins and heavy metals, all of which have the potential to be fatal. WHAT'S THE PROBLEM? The historic Malibu Creek Wetland as reported by the UCLA 2000 Study (page xiii) is impaired and dysfunctional because of ill-placed landfill, commercial buildings and parking lots placed on top and attracting intense vehicular traffic generating intense amounts of toxic pollutants in a highly sensitive nature habitat. As a result of dysfunctional wetlands in similar situations around the world, pollution runs rampant. Symptomatic are reef-building coral that provide a habitat for thousands of marine creatures have been dying off due to coastal pollution, over fishing and disease blamed on rising sea temperatures. A BRIEF HISTORY The Malibu Creek Wetland is a floodplain During the 1930's, landfill from the construction of the Pacific Coast Highway was dumped onto the west bank of the Malibu Creek to block the creek flow from entering the center of the wetland and making it an agricultural area for farming. In the 1960's, landfill from the development of Century City covered up a large area of the wetland center, with ten to twenty feet of dirt. More damage followed with the construction of the Cross Creek shopping centers and parking lots that were built dangerously close to the creek in the late 1960s. Since then, floods have caused sewage spills from restaurants in the shopping centers, which flow directly into the creek and ocean; heavily contaminating all living species. Highly toxic oils, grease and anti-freeze left by cars on parking lots and streets are carried off by car washes, hosing off side walks and parking lots, and rain going directly through storm drains, then into the creek and ocean. Now, the city has added a central storm drain collection and cleansing system and the Cross Creek shopping area is installing a treatment system. Both systems are within the fifty-year flood plain. Malibu's General Plan requires that new developments are capable of sustaining a one-hundred-year storm. In the upper watershed, the Tapia sewage treatment plant, Malibu Lake and Westlake have, individually, have the potential of releasing a volume of water into the creek that fills up the lagoon, backs up septic systems and bursts through the beach berm into the surfzone where hundreds of surfers are exposed. WHAT CAN BE DONE? 1) Expenses aside, in order to restore the ecosystem, the shopping centers and restaurants should be relocated to less harmful areas such as the uplands. They should not be in a fifty-year flood-plain. 2) Remove all unnatural landfill and allow the wetland to reform. 3) Upgrade all on-site waste treatment systems within close proximity of the historical wetland to insure against any possible discharge into the creek or surrounding area. These upgraded systems must sustain a 100-year storm as is required by Malibu's General Plan and must be certified in good operation annually by a city inspector. 4) Establish a national sanctuary with federal protective laws preserving the wetlands area. The historical wetland area is from the east bank of the Malibu Lagoon to the west end of the wetlands and Egret Pond, at the base of the Malibu Villas. 5) Develop an eco-system educational center for visitors from around the world to appreciate the sanctuary. 6) Short term: Tapia and the lake associations must be compelled by the Regional Water Quality Control Board to immediately notify all downstream stakeholders in the event of any planned discharge. 7) Officials must be allowed to test all septics in the area within the following two years and any that are failing must be fixed immediately. 8) The City should float a bond of two million dollars to help property owners underwrite the cost of bringing septic systems up to proper operations. Additional grants may help. Property owners in close proximity to the sea shore and lagoon have priority for city support, as well as the Creek and floodplain. Getting rid of the blight is easily worth every penny. 9) Signs must be placed around the historic wetland informing the public of the sensitive nature of the area. Home - Intro - History - Wetland Restoration - Videos - Organization |
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