State Parks steps back from Malibu Creek flood debris removal Play

Rocks from the fire-scarred mountains have clogged up the Malibu Creek flood channel after the Franklin Fire.

California State Parks has now told the city the creek bed is almost all private property, and they have no plans soon to remove the rocks on any emergency basis.

Yolanda Bundy, before the City Council Monday night: “State Parks owns a sliver portion on the creek. They are, just like any other partner, supportive to help us.

"But they feel that their role is limited and they feel that this is private property.

"I understand there is a study and a permanent solution, but the funding is not there.”

California State Parks is apparently walking away for the time being, after it put itself in charge of flood control on Malibu Creek.

The state has longstanding plans to unveil its design for the Rindge Dam removal project this week in Calabasas on Thursday. Residents along the creek feel they've been promised that the Rindge Dam removal project will include the removal of debris downstream near their houses.

The issue is immediate. Any heavy rain in the 110 square miles of mountains and suburbs that drain into Malibu Canyon will come down into the canyon and be diverted by rocks washed down from the Franklin Fire.

It will flood houses in Serra Retreat east of the creek and businesses west of the creek along Cross Creek Road in the Malibu Civic Center business district.

The California State Parks public workshop for what they call the Malibu Creek Ecosystem Restoration Project is Thursday night at 6:30 at the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District office on Las Virgenes Road, about a mile north of Mulholland Highway in Calabasas.