The State Water Resources Control Board has notified the City of Malibu of its approval of two stormwater-related grants totaling $3.1 million from the State’s Proposition 84 Areas of Special Biological Significance (ASBS) Grant Program.
“These two grants will allow the City of Malibu to continue its ongoing program further reducing the impact of runoff on the beaches and ocean,” said Malibu Mayor John Sibert said in the press release on the city’s website. “These new projects will not only build new collection and filtration systems in the Western part of Malibu, but they will also fund staffing to monitor performance and educate citizens and visitors.”
According to the press release, a $2.5 million award supports the City’s Broad Beach Road Biofiltration Project, which includes design of a biofiltration system to collect dry weather flows from eight storm drain catch basins along a one-mile stretch of Broad Beach Road and allow the flow to percolate through the ground. The project will help reduce contaminants that may affect water quality and habitat for shallow water fish by reducing the discharge from surface streets onto the sandy beaches upcoast from Zuma Beach.
The second grant provides $600,000 for the Wildlife Road Treatment and ASBS Focused Outreach project, which includes the design and installation of filtration systems in catch basins that will intercept and treat dry weather runoff along Wildlife Road in the Point Dume area. The systems lead to two drainage facilities that discharge to rocky tidepools just upcoast from Paradise Cove.
The Wildlife Road project also includes the hiring of a Coastal Preservation Specialist to perform outreach to residents in an effort to reduce residential water waste and help eliminate runoff into the entire ASBS. The specialist will coordinate City programs with other drought management programs focused on water conservation and environmental protection and preservation.