Against a backdrop of classic longboards, shimmering mountains, excavation equipment and rows of shovels ready to dig into the earth, Malibu Mayor Andy Stern and other city officials broke ground for Malibu's long anticipated Legacy Park on September 21. Considered one of California's most innovative stormwater and urban runoff projects, Legacy Park is going to transform over 15 acres in the heart of Malibu into a park that will hopefully benefit the community and surrounding communities for years to come. As community residents, local officials and other dignitaries gathered at the site, Mayor Andy Stern, State Sen. Fran Pavley, Assemblymember Julia Brownley and Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky were among the speakers applauding the project and recognizing Legacy Park as being an important step toward the city's commitment to improve ocean water quality, specifically in Malibu Creek, Malibu Lagoon and the world famous Surfrider Beach.
The $45 million project, located on a vacant parcel of land between Pacific Coast Highway and Civic Center Way will include a storm water treatment center designed to capture, disinfect and recycle more than 2 million gallons per day of storm water and urban runoff from the surrounding watershed. Scheduled to be completed by October 2010, the design of the park includes an environmental education section, an observation deck, walking promenades and the use of native plants throughout.
The city purchased the land in 2006 for $25 million dollars from the Malibu Bay Company, according to Barbara Cameron, grants consultant for the City of Malibu.
It took an additional three years to raise the funds needed to build the park, including donations of $2.5 million from the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission, $5 million from Santa Monica College, a $2 million dollar grant from the Annenberg Foundation, $700,000 from the L.A. County Regional Park and Open Space District, $800,000 in Proposition C funding, and approximately $9 million in private donations from individuals and the Malibu community. There is also a pending $5 million dollar grant in Federal stimulus money which is surprising considering the cuts made recently to basic education and social services in other neighboring communities. Which serves to illustrate the power and impact that the Malibu community can exert when it comes to getting things approved in their own neighborhood.
Mayor Stern opened the program by saying "How cool is this?" He went on to describe Legacy Park as an "oasis" for the city of Malibu that will allow "re-use" water for irrigation while cleaning stormwater and runoff at the same time. He also referred to it as one of the first "smart parks" that would have an environmental learning center for children. Assemblymember Brownley cited the "huge responsibility" of Malibu to preserve open space, mountains and ocean, while at the same time provide a community park, an educational opportunity and a restoration of natural habitats. Supervisor Yaroslavsky described the park as a "win-win" situation to deal with wastewater and environmental issues. He praised the "long term thinking" of the Malibu City Council against insurmountable odds, saying that the land was also originally being considered for a shopping center, among other things.
The Malibu Legacy Park Project addresses four critical environmental issues; bacteria reduction in stormwater treatment, nutrient reduction in wastewater management, restoration development of riparian habitats and the development of an open space area for passive recreation and environmental education. Increased development and land degradation have decreased the amount of thriving wetlands that originally made up the Civic Center area and in turn have diminished the variety of species that were once indigenous to the region. Malibu Lagoon is designated as a California Critical Coastal area, as well as a National Estuary that hosts more than 200 bird species and is currently home to two endangered fish species, the Steelhead Trout and the Tidewater Goby. By constructing a state-of-the-art water treatment system, the Malibu Legacy Park Project will include a stormwater detention system that will be able to divert runoff before it reaches Malibu Creek or Lagoon. Reusing treated runoff will also be a priority in the planning and design process.
All of this sounds environmentally ambitious, however, the park project still has its opponents and despite the start of official construction, there is an active lawsuit that claims the project violates state law. Four local environmental groups, Heal the Bay, Santa Monica Baykeeper, Surfrider Foundation and the Malibu Surfing Association say that Legacy Park, as currently designed, will not remedy pollution because it does not address wastewater discharge or sewage, which they consider to be the primary reason of poor ocean water quality in the area. The impaired ocean water quality in the area takes on far reaching implications when one takes into account the estimated 12 million visitors who explore the City of Malibu's mountains and shores annually and who are particularly attracted to Surfrider Beach, known as a world-class surfing beach.
The Santa Monica Baykeeper group claims the city approved Legacy Park violates state law by failing to meet water quality standards and also by inadequately treating sewage, or wastewater, generated in the Civic Center area.
Baykeeper's commitment to making sure the Clean Water act is met and that resources are protected is their primary goal, and they contend that Malibu still has not adequately dealt with the problems of wastewater pollution. The group is still trying to work out a number of issues with the city in settlement discussions regarding Legacy Park.
But now that ground has been broken, the project seems destined to move forward despite the protests. Whether or not Legacy Park will become the centerpiece of the City of Malibu and an example of state of the art stormwater and urban runoff design or a continued source of protest by environmental activists intent on treating the wastewater and sewage problems remains to be seen. The city has authorized funds for the design and engineering of a wastewater treatment center for the Civic Center area in response to criticism and legal action from environmental groups that want the city to speed up work on this aspect of local water pollution control. Hopefully, Malibu's Legacy Park will live up to it's promotional theme, "Fulfill a Dream, Live a Legacy." Which is really all the environmentalists want too, a legacy of clean water and clean oceans to be shared and enjoyed by everyone. Only when Malibu's Legacy Park is completed will we see how well this dream has been envisioned.
