Zuma Creek Bridge Clutter To Get Caltrans Attention

Flash floods and debris flows are going to be a constant concern when ever it rains in Malibu for the next three years. That’s the bleak assessment from the head of the Los Angeles County public works department … delivered at the  LA county meeting held yesterday … at Pepperdine … for residents to learn about county efforts following the fire.

Mark Pestrella says any house in a canyon is at risk for mudflows … think Montecito.

And he says Trancas Canyon .. the Malibu West subdivision … is the area of great concern for mudflows.

PESTRELLA  :16  QQ:  Zuma Canyon area.

At Zuma Creek … udner the PCH bridge … a large accumulation of trees and sandy debris has built up.

Pestrella says the county and Caltrans are working on a plan to remove the stiff from the channel and increase th flow capacity under the PCH bridge.

But … historic pictures we’ve seen from a flood in the 1950s show that bridge under three feet of water.

The head of the county Department of Public Works says work will continue … to clear flood control basins above Malibu West … on a continuing basis every time it rains for years.

One gigantic question mark is the Malibu Creek drainage area … hundreds of square miles of mountains and hills they have been bake into a black wasteland.

This is precisely the type of soil condition that the USGS has been warning about for years … as it drew flood maps that include low-lying areas along Malibu Creek near Pacific Coast Highway.

Pestrella says the county will have its emergency operations Center staff every time it rains … with field crews checking for debris flows up the canyon … beyond the 101 freeway.