Malibu and County Ask for Flood, Slide Funds : Disasters: Officials seeking state and federal relief money say November’s wildfires worsened chronic problems in Las Flores Canyon. Approval, though, is not certain.

Malibu and Los Angeles County have jointly applied for $11 million in state and federal funding for projects to avert disastrous flooding and landslides that have plagued Las Flores Canyon for decades.

The projects would include building a system of storm drains and catch basins in the canyon to alleviate problems caused by rainstorms. Malibu officials say the city qualifies for the funding because of the November wildfires, which exacerbated flooding and slide problems in the canyon.

The county joined with the city last week in applications to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the state Office of Emergency Services. The county was involved because it has jurisdiction over Rambla Pacifico, a part of the canyon where in 1984 a giant landslide destroyed eight homes and closed Rambla Pacifico Road, a major artery in the area.

But Malibu officials say it is uncertain whether the funds can be applied to the landslide area because the problem existed before the wildfires.

“It’s not a slam dunk,” said John P. Clement, Malibu public works director. “The slide (funding) is an uphill battle, frankly. FEMA doesn’t normally fund things like this because the slide was not created by the fire and was a pre-existing condition. It has to be a direct result of the fire. So I have to convince them that the slide has been really aggravated by the fire and is a valid project.”

Malibu and the county applied for the funds under the federal disaster relief assistance act, which is intended to provide assistance for immediate threats to life and property resulting from a disaster, such as the wildfires.

Clement said FEMA and the state Office of Emergency Services are expected to fund nearly 94% of the $11 million, with Los Angeles County, Caltrans and city redevelopment funds making up the balance. Officials at the agencies said they were uncertain how long it would take to process the applications.

The joint application was filed after Clement recently urged the City Council to pursue funding for several projects. They include improvement of the Pacific Coast Highway bridge at the base of Las Flores Canyon Road; stabilization of the Rambla Pacifico slide, and construction of a debris basin and storm drain system from Las Flores Mesa Canyon to Las Flores Canyon Creek.

The council unanimously approved the formal request for funds, but instructed Clement to create project designs that would spare nine properties in lower Las Flores Canyon that were marked for federal acquisition as part of a project to stabilize the Rambla Pacifico slide area.

The city also applied for funds to create a secondary emergency escape route for Las Flores Mesa residents, where all but a few of 50 homes were burned in the November wildfires. Las Flores Mesa residents now have only Las Flores Canyon Road as an exit. That route is often cut off in fires and floods, forcing residents to traverse the canyon’s steep hillsides to Pacific Coast Highway.

Clement’s recommendations were born of the Las Flores Canyon Fire Remediation Study, an analysis conducted by a task force made up of city staff, consultants and residents that came up with nine measures to improve the canyon area, including the Rambla Pacifico slide. The city narrowed down the measures to three for the funding application.

Improving the Pacific Coast Highway bridge is intended to eliminate the flood damage to properties at the base of Las Flores Canyon Road and the highway. The plan, which will cost about $350,000, includes removal of debris and silt from beneath the bridge, regular dredging of the creek channel and concreting the Las Flores Canyon Creek inlet to increase the capacity for storm-water runoff, Clement said.

The $10.5-million project to stabilize the Rambla Pacifico slide has been a controversial one because it included plans to acquire nine properties located where engineers proposed a colossal earthen buttress. Clement said the project now will include a smaller earthen buttress, leaving room for the nine properties. It also may include construction of vertical concrete columns to help shore up the land, which moves an average of two feet a year toward Las Flores Creek.

The project would also include the repair of Rambla Pacifico Road, which has been closed for 10 years because of the slide. Rambla Pacifico residents have sued the county, seeking repair of the road.

The third project, to cost about $160,000, is aimed at improving storm-water flow out of Las Flores Mesa Canyon, above Las Flores Canyon. It would include construction of a basin to catch debris in the upper canyon and an underground culvert from the mouth of Las Flores Mesa Canyon to Las Flores Creek.