• The Publisher’s Notebook •

Malibu Water Woes

BY ANNE SOBLE

With all the water in the Pacific Ocean along Malibu’s shoreline, one might not think that lack of water is much of a concern, but it may be one of the most important issues facing the community today. Right now, the official consensus is that Malibu has a little over a two-day supply of water if there is a major line break, or other interruption in flow from Los Angeles County Waterworks District 29.
Two days of water storage should be insufficient solace when one is dealing with a water line system that is five decades old in parts and subject to the geologic instability that is rife along the coastline. The Malibu City Council should make it a top priority to address ways to help improve the local water supply as much and as quickly as possible.
Money is in short supply at every level of government and in every facet of public operations, but money spent to assure adequate water availability for local use and firefighting can prevent untold costs if it means sufficient water to meet a crisis.
If land is available for additional water storage tanks in the Point Dume and Serra Retreat areas, this should be explored sooner rather than later. Every step that can take the community to a doubling, if not more, of its water capacity, should be at the top of a public needs assessment list.
Local residents who have provided constant reminders of the vulnerability of the water line in the Las Tunas area, at the so-called Pacific Coast Highway “bump,” should be lauded for preventing governmental authorities from the ostrichitis that prevails when competing priorities clamor for attention.
The bottom line is the city is going to have to get in step with other communities that are clamping down hard on excessive water users. County Waterworks has to be prodded to increase penalties on the water gluttons who refuse to acknowledge the Southland’s desert roots and pour thousands and thousands of gallons of this limited resource into alien lawns and greenery that further constrain an already constrained water supply.
As for the city’s ostensible attitude of never having met a development it didn’t like, water limitations need to be recognized. If there is inadequate water and the developer doesn’t have a special connection to Mother Nature and an assurance of regular rainfall, perhaps the project should be put on hold. Instead of cultivating an international reputation for trying to mess with the First Amendment, Malibu should pay attention to its resource needs.