Malibu, California; a Story of Wastewater, Politics, and Science
W. Richard Laton, Ph.D., CPG-10544 - University of Southern California, Fullerton
wlaton@fullerton.edu
Abstract
On-site septic systems have been a way of life for the City of Malibu since its incorporation in 1991. Now the city is under pressure from the State of California and has begun to install a centralized wastewater treatment plant to service the Civic Center area near Malibu Creek. The purpose of this treatment plant is to improve the quality of water in Malibu Creek and that of the shallow groundwater. Surface water and groundwater sampling have shown that local waters have been degrading for years. The problem for the City is not the treatment of the wastewater, but rather what to do with the excess highly treated water. It was deemed too expensive or non-permittable to discharge offshore, transport to Los Angeles or over the mountains to the adjacent San Fernando valley. Approximately two million liters per day of treated wastewater will need to be disposed of by on-site reuse, irrigation or other methods. In order to develop a plan to handle this excess reclaimed water, the City embarked on a series of geology, groundwater, surface water, geochemical, geo- technical and modeling efforts to evaluate the viable options available to them. After several years of work, groundwater injection was deemed the most reasonable for purposes of cost, politics and science.
Keywords: City of Malibu; Wastewater; Groundwater; Geology; Injection Wells; Groundwater Modeling Introduction
The City of Malibu California lies just north of Los Angeles along the Pacific Ocean (Fig. 1). Its 43.5 kilometers of scenic shoreline have been illustrated in movies, television shows and paraded as southern California living! However, its dirty little secret is that it has no public sewer system. By design, every home, business or municipal facility has a septic system. In the late 1980’s, the County of Los Angeles began a plan to install a major sewer project in the Malibu area. The residents of the area wanted no part of the increased density of development this would bring. So, in 1990 they overwhelmingly voted for cityhood and in 1991 became incorporated (City of Malibu, 1992). By becoming a City, they were able to stop the County from installing an area wide sewer system. The City in 1991 commissioned a study on wastewater management. This led to the development of the City of Malibu Local Coastal Program (LCP) and ultimately an LCP Land Use Plan (LCP/LUP) that was submitted to the State of California Coastal Commission for approval (City of Malibu, 2002). This plan was adopted and approved in 2002 by the State.
For nearly two decades the City fought with the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (LARWQCB) over water quality issues associated with on-site sewer systems. The Regional Board is tasked with the protection of water
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