Study costs have gone up to nearly $4 million; estimates to remove the dam could range from $31 million to $72 million.
By Olivia Damavandi / Staff Writer
The current status of the Malibu Creek Watershed Restoration Study, which examines potential opportunities to remove fish migration barriers including the Rindge Dam, was discussed Monday at a Malibu Creek Watershed Council meeting at Peter Strauss Ranch.
The goal of the study, conducted by the U.S Army Corps of Engineers and California State Parks, is to determine how to best restore Malibu Creek’s steelhead trout population.
The meeting included a presentation by Jim Hutchinson, Army Corps Watershed Studies Group Lead, which discussed potential ways to achieve the study goal. The full dam removal strategies range from $31 million to $72 million in price, and would employ trucks and conveyor belts to transport material to one of three disposal sites. The disposal site options are all located along Malibu Canyon Road, two near the Hughes Research Center and the other on the northwest side of the road, directly adjacent to the dam.
The study and the idea of the dam removal have angered several people, who feel that the project is a waste of money, money that could be better spent elsewhere.
Ron Rindge, a descendent of the family who built the Rindge Dam, has in the past been quoted as saying steelhead trout are not native to the Malibu area, and that any fish that were found in local streams were put there by state agencies.
Rindge also sent letters to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers stating the trout could not exist in the upper watershed above the dam because temperatures are too high during much of the year, and because of poor water quality caused by urbanization in the upper watershed and effluent being discharged from the Tapia sewer treatment plant.
Rindge insisted it would be a “folly to continue to spend money on this project until the water in Malibu Creek is once again pristine and capable of sustaining steelhead below the dam,” which is where, he said, the “trout flourished for 40 years after the dam was built in 1924.”
Nevertheless, the study, which originally was estimated to cost $1.5 million to $2 million, but now has ballooned to nearly $4 million, is continuing.
Hutchinson said the removal of the Rindge Dam would result in 780,000 cubic yards of impounded sediment, an estimated 220,000 of which is compatible beach material that could be deposited at Surfrider Beach rather than in one of the three disposal sites. He said the actual concrete structure of the dam would be hauled to a Calabasas landfill.
In a phone interview on Tuesday, Hutchinson said the cost of the Malibu Creek Watershed Restoration Study is to be split evenly between the federal government and local sponsor contributions, but he could not guarantee an exact date of when the study is expected to finish or how much money has been spent on the study to date.
“Optimally, we would complete the feasibility phase sometime in 2010 and enter into the design phase, which could last a minimum of several years,” Hutchinson said. “It all depends on budget priorities and lots of agreements that need to be signed and completed.”
Hutchinson and Marriah Abellera, Army Corp planning lead, said in a phone interview Tuesday that while the reconnection of aquatic and terrestrial habitat (land-based species) is one of the overall objectives, it is not the sole reason for the study.
“Right now the dam acts as a trap for sediments and has impacts associated with water quality,” Hutchinson said. “Dam removal could beneficially affect water quality.”
Hutchinson said taking no action would result in further accumulation of sediments behind the dam and isolation of multiple species, such as steelhead trout, whose populations are affected by the cutting off of spawning and rearing habitats.
Hutchinson said the overall benefit of the study is that it serves as a catalyst to unite local, state federal and government agencies that will potentially align themselves to raise political funding for future projects.
“If you stop [funding and studying] now, someone’s going to have to start it up again in the future,” Hutchinson said, highlighting the importance of taking advantage of the mutual interests and current alignment of the different agencies, which include the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors.
Hutchinson said 65 percent of the cost of construction to remove the Rindge Dam would be paid by the federal government. The remaining 35 percent would be paid by sponsors, and could be in the form of a combination of cash and crediting for real estate.
The corps will next attend a review conference in San Francisco to discuss ways in which to move the project forward. The date of the review conference has not been disclosed.