Mr. Vail’s Letter to the Editor in the August 15th edition brought up some interesting points. He had some questions concerning my participation in protecting Malibu.
I believe it is important to encourage citizen participation in the efforts to preserve and protect our precious community resources (air, water and natural open space). We are blessed in Malibu with beautiful beaches next to magnificent mountains and an expanse of natural open space that is a wonderful experience to be cherished by all.
While presently I don’t have the privilege of residing in Malibu, I am an active member of the community working with residents, government, businesses and environmental organizations, and have been for the past ten years.
As a former professional surfer who has surfed Malibu since 1962, and my business is surfing, my main effort goes into restoring clean water to our coastal community. I am most concerned with the water pollution issues at Surfrider Beach.
The conflicting uses in the Civic Center area of Malibu, adjacent to Surfrider Beach, that are a major source of pollution in our coastal waters, typifies the concerns in coastal communities around the country, let alone the rest of the world.
Over the past decade I have become aware of the water pollution concerns and have seen the problems escalate because of increased development. Pressures from development in sensitive areas such as in the Center of Malibu cause water quality to become increasingly degraded.
Over the past decade I have been a regular participant in the Malibu Creek Watershed Executive and Advisory Council. I was instrumental in starting the Lagoon Task Force and the Malibu Coastal Land Conservancy. I initiated and organized the first Malibu Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation’s 1997 State of the Malibu Creek Watershed Conference, as well as the Save the Malibu event, and I have produced over a half dozen half hour documentaries on the conflicts between the commercial developers and the attempts to restore the environment in the heart of Malibu.
Having enjoyed working with these organizations to solve the pollution problems in the Center of Malibu, with a watershed approach, we welcome the opportunity now to work with Mr. Vail to protect the heart of Malibu from overdevelopment and restore it for the common good.
Bob Purvey