The Park Is Dry. La Paz Has Extra Water. A Drain Leads Under the Street. The Water Board Says No Problem. So Why Isn’t This Happening?
Written by 991KBU on June 25, 2021
It looks like there might be a solution to the dry lake at Legacy Park … and clean water dumping into Malibu Creek conundrum.
Many Malibu residents are bothered by the fact that the lagoon at Legacy Park has dried up in the drought.
At the same time … that construction project for a new shopping center across the street is dumping tens of thousands of gallons of water that is flowing into their construction site … dumping it into Malibu Creek.
That lead city councilman Steve Uhring to the logical … obvious question …. why not put some of the water into the lagoon … across the street??
City public works director Rob DuBoux says filling the lagoon with water being flushed out of the creek is theoretically possible.
NEWSCART 73587 LEGACY DUBOUX
“If we are able to take in some of the water …
“We could take some of the water from La Paz .. and bring it over as irrigation.
“I think it is a great idea …
“We just have to really strategize as to how much we can use and make sure during the summer that we have enough capacity so during the rainy season we have enough capacity for storage in the pond towards the rainy season so as the storm water comes in it has enough capacity to come in.”
DuBoux told the city Public Works Commission Wednesday night that some permits and studies would have to be submitted to the state Water Board
The executive director of the state Water Board office in Los Angeles tells KBUU News … it would be not a big deal to divert some of that clean water … into the lagoon.
Renee Purdy told KBUU News yesterday that the construction company evaluated using the water constructively … but the city turned them down.
NEWSCART 73585 PURDY 111
“The discharger indicated that they had evaluated a number of different options as an alternative to discharging the water to Malibu Creek,… but that they were unable to find any options.
And I did look at the city statement that you provided to us in the email … and it appears that based on the city statement that the city had indicated it doesn’t have the means to use the water at Legacy Park.”
But what about using – if not all of the water at Legacy Park – how about just some of the water???
That apparently was not the answer from the city.
At last night’s city Public Works Commission meeting … Du Boux said a bunch of engineering studies and permits would have to be pulled from not onlt the Water Board … but other agencies.
Not so … says the Water Board.
A simple engineering plan is all it takes … and the executive director says she is s that the Waterr Board is simply waiting for the city and the builder to walk a permit in.
NEWSCART 73586 PURDY 222
“We have looked at the water quality monitoring data that has been collected for the district so far … and of course that discharge is subject to water quality limits before it is discharged to Malibu Creek.
“and we do know that it is currently meeting all of the water quality standards.”
So the city and the Water Board say it is a good idea.
Getting some of the water across the street to Bluffs Park may be as simple as running a hose into a storm drain on Civic Center Way ,,, next to the library.
That drain drains into Legacy Park’s lagoon.
But getting the matter through the city bureaucracy may be much more difficult.
All this is being delayed by a bureaucratic shuffle at City Hall.
City councilman Steve Uhring last week asked that the city act on this … as soon as possible.
But the Public Works Director said there was no actual vote by the city council on changing the Public Works Commission work plan … the list of things that can be placed on the commission’s agenda.
And it was not on the commission’s agenda Wednesday night …
So the Public Works Commission by consensus decided to ask the City Council to change the work plan … so that the Public Works Commission can consider the matter at its next meeting.
Meanwhile … the clean water is being dumped into the creek for disposal … and the retention basin sits dried out.
And the ducks have all flown away.
If that sounds like an endless bureaucratic loop … well … that certainly is what it sounds like.
