Malibu is not ready to lose the Rindge Dam.
On Monday, city council asked City Manager Reva Feldman to send a letter to the California Coastal Commission urging that more time be spent on researching a dam removal project and its potential consequences.
Right now, the statewide body is looking at a plan to remove the 92-year-old structure, which sits at the bottom of Malibu Canyon in front of a massive pile of 780,000 cubic yards of dirt, rocks and debris that has collected behind it.
The removal of the dam would “restore 8.5 miles of aquatic, riparian habitat” according to Public Works Director Bob Brager.
“The [Army] Corps [of Engineers] states that the restoration project would reconnect the aquatic corridor to provide access to additional spawning and rearing habitat to a variety of aquatic species, including the Pacific lamprey, arroyo chub, western pond turtle, and the federally endangered southern California steelhead, among others,” according to the Coastal Commission, among many benefits, including: “Allow for transport of Rindge Dam impounded sediment to nourish downstream shoreline and nearshore habitats that would have naturally benefited from this material without the dam in place.”
So why the hesitation?
“I think this is one of those dilemmas—it’s a contradiction, I guess,” Mayor Rick Mullen said Monday. “It’s the mission statement, to look after the natural beauty of Malibu and do things consistent with nature, et cetera. It’s written throughout our code.
“This man-made thing, now, you would think that we would all want it to be removed, because, ‘Put it back in its natural pristine state,’ but it’s not that simple,” the mayor continued. “There’s a lot of problems with it—potential problems.”
Those problems include, according to Mayor Pro Tem Jefferson “Zuma Jay” Wagner, a greater exposure to flood risk, due to the way the dam would be taken down—removing a layer of soil and then a layer of dam, a certain amount each season.
“The dismantling of the dam is concurrent with the removal of the soils,” Wagner described. “The dismantling takes place in periods, and during those periods you have the greatest exposure to flooding … It has a lot of complications which we’ll have to look into detail on.”
Malibu would like to be known as an environmentally conscious city.
Plastic shopping bags have been banned here since 2008. The use of rodenticides has been discontinued in all public parks and facilities since 2016. Just this Monday, council passed a ban on plastic straws, stirrers and cutlery—one of the most stringent in the country.
But when it comes to the removal of the Rindge Dam, which environmentalists tout as a way to restore miles of natural habitat, concerns such as Civic Center flood risks and destruction of the internationally famous surf spot at Surfrider Beach have council tapping the brakes.
“The project holds the potential to create two types of geologic hazards: slope instability during and after excavation of the impounded sediments behind Rindge Dam, and increased downstream flood risks after removal of the dam and impounded sediment,” according to the Coastal Commission.
“For as long as people have been surfing in Malibu, this dam has been there,” Mullen pointed out.
The project, as proposed by the Army Corps of Engineers, would involve 30 truckloads of soil traveling out of Malibu each day (according to a report prepared by city staff). Estimated to begin in 2025, the project would take eight years. Cost estimates were not included in the California Coastal Commission report, though previous estimates put the project around $160 million.
“In my mind there are just too many questions and a lot of fears over this,” said Council Member Laura Rosenthal.
The item will come before the California Coastal Commission on March 9 during a meeting in Port Hueneme.