Malibu Event Focuses on State of Watershed

From a Chumash Indian ceremony to an auction of celebrity-donated items, the Surfrider Foundation’s “Save the Malibu Day” spanned the spectrum of one of Los Angeles’ storied beach communities Thursday.

The event, and a related conference, were intended to focus public attention on ways to reduce pollution in the Malibu Creek watershed, including the Surfrider Beach area near the Malibu Pier. Surfrider Beach, renowned among surfers worldwide for its minute-long rides, is visited by 1.5 million people a year.

The day began on the beach at 7 as a group of about 80 people were led by Akema Casteneda, a Chumash Indian from Santa Barbara, in a blessing that asked for an end to the area’s pollution. Then 60 surfers paddled out into the ocean to form a “healing circle” and hear Surfrider Foundation officials, on surfboards, explain the effects of upstream development on the Malibu Lagoon and adjacent waters.

“The point of this gathering is to paint a picture of the entire watershed,” said Bob Purvey, the event’s organizer and a director of Surfrider’s Malibu chapter. “It’s the first time we’re reporting to the community on what efforts are being made to solve the problems here.”

After opening ceremonies, a crowd of about 100 gathered at the Webster Elementary School in Malibu to hear reports from the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains, the city of Malibu, Heal the Bay, the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board and other organizations. Topics included the risks associated with swimming and surfing in the area, restoring wildlife habitat, the effects of recycled-water overflow and the impact of septic systems.

The conference, called “State of the Malibu Watershed,” came less than a week after a two-day closure of Surfrider Beach because of an overflow of polluted water from the lagoon berm.

Malibu City Engineer Rick Morgan said public awareness of the watershed’s problems has increased recently.

“It’s a real black star in our community that Surfrider has the worst water quality,” Morgan said, in reference to the 1996 Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project study that rated Surfrider the most polluted storm drain area in Santa Monica Bay. “It should be a showcase. It’s a precious resource.”

“The city is viewed as very affluent, but it will take all our resources to effectively resolve the problem. Plus it will take all of the other [upstream] communities,” said conference organizer Purvey.

“With new technology we’ve found out there are more human diseases in the water than there were thought to be. Water just transports things around and around, and the saltwater doesn’t necessarily kill everything,” Purvey added. “So putting it into the water isn’t the answer. We need to educate and convince people that there are other ways.”

“Save the Malibu Day,” which Purvey hopes to make an annual event, was to end at the historic Adamson Estate Museum on Malibu Point with a $50-a-plate dinner and silent auction of artwork and items donated by celebrities such as Roseanne Barr, John Travolta and George Foreman.

“I’m so excited about this,” said Julie Rosa, a naturalist with the Resource Conservation District. “It seems like people are really getting together.”