The long-awaited verdict about what to do with the Malibu Lagoon has officially been decided, but the controversy still rages. On Thursday, Oct. 27, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Ernest Goldsmith gave the stalled Malibu Lagoon Restoration and Enhancement Plan the green light to begin the bulldozing and revamping.
After issuing a stay on the project in May as the result of a lawsuit from the Wetlands Defense Fund, Access For All, and the Coastal Law Enforcement Action Network to stop the Malibu Lagoon restoration project. Goldsmith took these past months to review the arguments made by these environmental groups. The Wetlands Defense Funds’ leader, Marcia Hanscom expressed that man-made creations of wetlands could more than likely worsen the ecosystem rather than restoring it.
According to local news website Malibu Patch, Goldsmith said, “The Coastal Commission properly analyzed all feasible alternatives to the project and chose the one that was least damaging to achieve the goals.”
This $7 million project has been in the works for more than a decade. Senior Samantha Roesler, who spent last summer researching the Malibu Lagoon Restoration with Professor Dorothy Andreas said, “This project has been under review so many times and for so many years that I believe that the judge made a logical and rational decision.”
It has been decided that the project will break ground in June 2012, a year later than originally planned. The restoration plan will involve temporarily draining a 12-acre portion of the wetland in Malibu Lagoon State Beach. Simultaneously, the project will bulldoze out sediment to plant new banks with indigenous plants to improve the health of the ecosystem, as well as the water circulation. The ruling on Thursday was in favor of the state and consisted of more than three hours of arguments.
The multimillion-dollar plot will reconstruct the three channels into one broader waterway that scientists and ecological experts theorize will create improved water flow while also providing habitat for a greater variety of species of birds and marine life. A bridge pathway to Surfrider Beach will be taken out to make way for the new wider channel, and a second entrance to the beach will be made bigger. Lastly, there is a plan to add picnic tables and bird watching areas.
Notable environmental groups such as Heal the Bay and the Surfrider Foundation believe the restoration project will be beneficial for the ecosystem in the long run and have backed the plan to restore from the start.
However, even after all of this time and consideration on this Restoration, many environmentalists and Malibu citizens are still discontented.
Hanscom, a writer, naturalist and environmental activist, helped environmentalists win the battle to save a major portion of the Ballona Wetlands back in the 1990s. Hanscom has been a firm believer that this plan is much too extreme, and she has been backed by many locals, especially those who have an emotional connection to the lagoon itself.
Work to reverse the decision is already in the process. The project’s late start date still leaves the question of whether the opposition will be able to come back and refute the verdict.
