CALABASAS : Water Study Takes Some Heat Off Tapia

A UCLA study released Tuesday absolves the Tapia Water Reclamation Facility in Calabasas of much of the responsibility for pollution in Malibu Creek, despite charges by critics that the plant has helped defile the waterway.

Even so, researchers say the study contains good and bad news: Although the creek and Malibu Lagoon have serious pollution problems, the area is still a valuable ecological resource.

“Obviously, we have a resource that is degraded and needs help,” said Mark Gold, executive director of Heal the Bay, who hailed the study as the most comprehensive ever done on the creek’s 104-square-mile watershed.

The $120,000 study, paid for by the water district, was conducted over a one-year period that ended last April. It was done in cooperation with the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District, Heal the Bay, Environment Now and the National Resources Defense Council.

The study shows high concentrations of metals in the Malibu Lagoon and in fish in the creek that often exceed the level recommended by the federal Environmental Protection agency for human consumption. Concentrations were highest above the water treatment facility, which indicates that Tapia is not the main source.

Much of the pollution appears to originate from development upstream as far away as Thousand Oaks, researchers said. However, the study also cautions Tapia to curb its release of treated water during the summer months, when recreational use downstream is at its peak.

One of the “prime contributors” to pollution in the lagoon, researchers said, is migratory birds. The study, which also looked at fish, birds and other wildlife, found 68 species of waterfowl and 39 species of land birds, a total of 27,700 birds.

The study sampled 18 species of freshwater and marine fish, a total of 9,426 fish. Researchers discovered that population of the Tidewater Goby population, which was said to be in decline, had actually increased.

In general, Tapia officials said, water leaving the facility after treatment would be considered drinkable in 48 states, excluding California. “The process used by Tapia can be expected to remove 99.9% of viruses,” microbiologist Richard Danielson said in a prepared statement. “All indicators are that Tapia is doing just that.”

The study did not assess health risks posed to surfers, who say creek runoff is making them sick. Nor did it look at the theory that outdated septic systems are the source of much of the pollution in Malibu Lagoon. To study those areas would have been too expensive, researchers said.