Watershed tour proves educational

Photo courtesy of DEBORAH LOWE STREAM DECAY—Participants on the recent Malibu Creek Watershed tour inspect the poor condition of Texas Crossing in Malibu Creek State Park. The concrete bridge is deteriorating. Residents took a recent tour of the Malibu Creek Watershed, a system of ecologically sensitive creeks and streams that run from Agoura Hills and Calabasas to the Pacific Ocean, and learned about the challenges facing the watershed and the steps being taken to improve its troubled condition.

One of the goals of the tour was to educate the public about the need for urban stream restoration and other watershed improvements. Portions of the 29mile creek are encased in concrete and include barriers and dams that block fish migration. How to restore natural flow patterns to the creek remains an ongoing challenge, officials said.

The first stop on the tour was Rindge Dam, which blocks Southern steelhead trout from migrating from the Pacific Ocean to the upstream portions of the creek.

According to Jim Hutchingson, a watershed expert, the habitat available to the fish has been reduced from almost 30 miles to just two miles.

Hutchinson discussed an ongoing study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that is exploring possible solutions to the habitat issue.

Regarding the Las Virgenes Creek Restoration project near Agoura Road and the 101 Freeway in Calabasas, plans are currently underway to take the cement out of the creek bed and restore the stream.

However, the creek is fronted by shopping center parking lots on both sides. Mark Abramson of Heal the Bay said a greenbelt was supposed to be included when the shopping centers were developed.

Engineer Mark Cocke of the Natural Resources Conservation Service suggested putting in a permeable surface—such as paving stones planted with grasses— along the creek bed and planting typical creekside trees such as willows and sycamores.

The tour buses drove by a portion of the creek parallel to Lost Hills. Several years ago, the creek was “palisading” at this location—the bank was so undercut it became a steep cliff and suffered from daily erosion.

Deborah Low, formerly with the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains, joined other partners to help improve the banks by planting native shrubs and trees, including willows. Even after the nearrecord rains earlier this year, this section of Malibu Creek is still holding up, Low said.

To explore how human impacts on the watershed can be minimized, tour participants next visited the Rancho Composting Facility in Calabasas where human waste solids are turned into garden-safe compost that is used to improve local gardens.

During a drive through Malibu State Park, visitors saw the crumbling Texas Crossing bridge. Abramson joined Nat Cox from California Department of State Parks and discussed plans to remove the detritus from the creek.

After lunch, guests saw how the Tapia Water Reclamation Facility works. The Tapia visit featured an in-depth explanation by Dr. Randal Orton of Las Virgenes Municipal Water District and an on-site tour by Carlos Reyes, plant operations manager.

The day’s last stop was Malibu Lagoon where Suzanne Goode, senior ecologist with the California Department of State Parks and Resources, talked about the historic condition of the lagoon, its current declining state and the attempt by groups and individuals to improve the condition of Surfrider Beach and its surroundings.

Tour sponsors included the Las Virgenes Water and Triunfo Sanitation districts; the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works; Heal the Bay; the cities of Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Malibu and Westlake Village; the California Department of Parks and Recreation; Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority; Supervisor Zev Yaroslavksy’s office; the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission, the Department of Conservation; UCLA Stunt Ranch Santa Monica Mountains Reserve; and the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains.