Serra Retreat residents plead for action on choked Malibu Creek
Malibu Creek has filled with fire debris, and residents warn even small runoff now floods yards. The council began declaring another emergency.
By Hans Laetz
The next big disaster in Malibu may well be Malibu Creek in the Serra Retreat area. That's where Malibu Creek has filled up with debris, rocks, and brush washing down from the fire-ravaged mountains in Malibu Canyon.
The creek is so full of debris now that even a small amount of runoff coming down the creek is flooding yards in Serra Retreat. Malibu Creek drains 110 square miles of mountains and subdivisions over the hill.
Residents are frantic. They appeared before the City Council Monday night to plead for help. They warn the choked creek bed will not only flood their houses but the shopping centers along Cross Creek Road.
"Time is of the essence. We are facing an El Niño season like no other, and while we appreciate the brush clearing that has occurred so far, it isn't even close to enough. We need an emergency resolution. The issue is time and the urgency to act immediately, now, next month, to mitigate some of the risk. We ask the city to act now and consider an immediate action that would waive or streamline any permitting, free up resources, provide project management."
"We're all gonna lose our houses if you guys don't do anything. Please don't make this a, 'Oh well, we knew and we didn't do.' We can't wait anymore for all these people to just fight and say 'not it.'"
Those were residents along the Cross Creek shopping area. A tangle of state and county agencies is planning a project connected to the removal of Rindge Dam to clear debris from the creek bed, but at best it won't start for three or four years.
Monday night the City Council decided to start the process of declaring yet another emergency in Malibu.
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