With all due respect to Ronald Rindge, suggesting that the obsolete Rindge Dam be maintained as a “catch basin” for the “bad runoff” from the watershed above (Letter to the Editor, July 17) is as wrong-headed as it is ludicrous. The return of the Steelhead trout to the upper reaches of Malibu Creek is not just a concession to a small tribe of fishing enthusiasts, but rather the signal that the water quality issues of the Malibu Creek watershed have finally been addressed.
The Rindge Dam was built in the ’30s to supply water to a wide-ranging cattle operation. By the mid-fifties, the dam had filled with silt to the level it is at today—within a few feet of the top—and no longer served the Rindge cattle operation. Rather than mitigating the plug of concrete and silt that choked the once free running waterway, the dam was “donated” and the land it sat on went to the state.
The problem of contaminants entering the watershed above the dam is serious, but nowhere in the country are open-pipe sources of pollution abated with downstream “catch basins.” That does not address the problem; it merely moves it to another place. What is happening across the country, however, is the removal of obsolete dams, like the Rindge Dam. The federal government allocates hundreds of millions of dollars specifically for the purpose of restoring waterways to their free-running states.
The Steelhead trout fishery is not just the dream of hobbyists in waders. The State of California and the federal government are very serious about restoring the Steelhead fishery on the West Coast. An endangered species like the Steelhead trout commands the highest level of protection, and their return will bring greater scrutiny to the upstream polluters. In a manner of speaking, the Steelhead themselves will have a louder voice in cleaning up Malibu Creek than any of us ever will.
If the Rindge family wants to be on the right side of this issue, they should consider looking to the future of the Malibu watershed rather than to the past of an obsolete dam.
D. Paul Yeuell