Sewer fight deja vu
It seems only yesterday that the citizens of Malibu were loading onto buses to go downtown and fight the government plan to install sewers in Malibu. It’s hard to believe that almost 20 years have passed and yet this Thursday many from Malibu will once again be riding those damned buses to go back downtown and fight another bureaucracy bent on sewering Malibu.
The irony is that last time it was the development forces that were pushing the creation of sewers so the county would get what they viewed as the completion of Malibu, a town of 100,000 or more. If the plan had succeeded we very well today might have had hillsides filled with hundreds or even thousands of condominiums looking out at the Pacific Ocean, and we would have been indistinguishable from large stretches of Orange and San Diego counties that went that route. As it turns out, we defeated the sewer and quickly incorporated ourselves as a city. And we were able to keep Malibu relatively sparsely settled, with a residential population of 13,000 or so, which is about where it was 20 years ago.
We’re now seeing the sequel, the “Son of the Sewer,” but now an entirely different cast of characters is pushing it. Whereas last time it was the development bureaucrats and their allies in county government, and the developers, this time it’s being pushed by the environmental bureaucrats and their allies around the Santa Monica Bay. Strangely, their objectives are diametrically opposed to each other but their solution is exactly the same-”Build a sewer.”
I do believe that no matter what happens at the Regional Water Quality Control Board meeting, sewer or no sewer, we won’t turn into some rapidly pro-growth community. It’s just not going to happen.
The problem isn’t a growth problem. It’s an entirely different sort of a problem; it’s an environmental problem. The various waterways that run through and adjacent to Malibu are polluted from time to time. It varies depending on whether its summer or winter, rainy season or dry season, wet year or dry year and I suspect there are at least a dozen other variables which all impact the degree of pollution. I don’ think anyone disputes that.
The problem is two-fold. One is who is responsible for creating the problem; secondly, who is responsible for fixing the problem.
After attending several meetings and workshops, and listening to some members of the Regional Water Quality Control Board and its staff, it seems fairly clear to me that they believe the citizens of Malibu are at fault for this situation and that the citizens of Malibu should have to pay for the fix. If there is contrary evidence they simply don’t appear to want to hear it.
To complicate it even further, there are two more separate and distinct problems. One is the problem of septic systems in Malibu and possible pollution coming from those systems. The other problem is all the pollution that comes down Malibu Creek from the entire watershed, which includes Calabasas, Agoura Hills, Westlake Village and maybe even Thousands Oaks. Then there is the problem of animal and bird pollution, and then people pollution from the homeless living in the canyons and along the Malibu Creek. Malibu Creek is also the out-fall for the Tapia Wastewater Treatment Facility, which handles effluent from throughout the watershed, which it then treats and discharges into the Malibu Creek. All the things I’ve mentioned probably play some role in the pollution of Malibu’s waters, but we apparently are the designated fixer, whether our share is small, large or nonexistent.
How do we pay for this large series of public works projects that are being rammed down our throats to solve what I believe are really regional problems? We make sure we’re not the only ones stuck with the tab by raising our voices.
For one thing, we go to the Regional Water Quality Control Board meeting this Thursday, sign up to speak and support the citizens of Malibu and the city in their proposals to the board. Secondly, we mobilize our political clout-and make no mistake we collectively have substantial political and legal clout. Everybody in this town knows somebody and we have to follow that path through the State Water Quality Control Board, various administrative agencies, the Legislature (both the state Senate and the Assembly) and finally to the governor. If that doesn’t work, there is always the court. This is going to be a long fight. It’s going to take a plan and money, and probably will go on for years.
There is still a faint ray of hope that the battle may be avoidable. Perhaps we can work out a livable plan with the board. But livable means livable-to us as well as to them. So far I haven’t seen much hope, but that could change. The decision this Thursday, or lack of decision if they delay final action, will give us an initial take on the situation.
For now, get on the bus. Go to the meeting downtown. If you can’t go, send your representative, your lawyer or your mother-in-law, but go and get yourself heard.