Rindge Dam removal is suddenly back in the spotlight.
Nearly four years after California State Parks officials, together with representatives from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, presented a plan to remove the Rindge Dam from Malibu Creek, discussion is beginning to eek forward.
Late last week, the City of Malibu announced a public hearing on a draft Integrated Feasibility Report (IFR) / Environmental Impact Report, putting the approximately $160 million proposed project to the forefront for the first time since 2013. The report was completed and published by the Army Corps of Engineers, with input from state parks.
Completed in 1926, the dam has been essentially filled with sediment since the mid-1940s, the report describes. That means about 780,000 cubic yards of sediment, rocks and sand fill the basin upstream of the dam, while local species — specifically the endangered Southern California Steelhead Trout — cannot pass the enormous barrier. The idea to remove the dam has been discussed off and on since at least 1998.
“Rindge Dam altered the natural geomorphic, riparian and aesthetic character of Malibu Creek,” the IFR describes. “Pools, riffles and runs that historically supported steelhead and other fish still exist above the dam. Upstream tributaries have smaller barriers such as culverts and bridges that interrupt connectivity for aquatic species. The barriers have interrupted the sediment transport regimen in the watershed, interfered with habitat connectivity for aquatic species including the steelhead, and degraded habitat for aquatic species.”
Early descriptions of the project, as presented to city council in 2013, were heavily scrutinized at the time — though much of that scrutiny likely came from poor opinions many in Malibu held regarding the Malibu Lagoon Restoration Project of 2012. Back then, the project was estimated to cost at least $100 million, with those estimates now reaching $161.6 million for the Army Corps of Engineers’ recommendation (called the “National Ecosystem Restoration” plan), or up to $166.5 million for the California State Parks preferred project (called the “Locally Preferred Plan”).
The project, which calls for the removal of the built-up sediment, in addition to various structures of the dam such as the arch, spillway and various culverts along the tributaries of Malibu Creek, would last seven to eight years at the minimum, according to Army Corps estimates. One proposed alternative, using natural erosion, would last 50 years.
Rocks and stones built up behind the dam would, under the plan, be sent to the Calabasas landfill, while sediment would be directed to replenish Malibu beaches.
The plan favored by the feds would include the removal of the Rindge Dam arch, with sand removed via trucks to the beach during “non-peak times, after Labor Day and before Memorial Day, for three consecutive construction years.”
The plan favored by the state includes removal of the arch, but also the spillway, with sand trucked to Ventura Harbor and then barged back to the coast of Malibu near the Malibu Pier.
Funding for the project would come from a combination of federal funds and other “sponsors.”
If the Army Corps’ preferred project were chosen, 65 percent of funding would come from the federal government and 35 percent from a “non-federal sponsor.” If the state’s plan were chosen, the federal government would be off the hook for any part of the project above and beyond the basics of the plan.
Officials from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and State Parks did not immediately respond to requests for comment by the time The Malibu Times went to print.
A public hearing on the dam removal project is scheduled for Wednesday, Mar. 1, from 6-8 p.m. at the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District, 4234 Las Virgenes Road, Calabasas. Public comments on the study will be accepted through March 27.