Preparations Begin For Dewatering at the Malibu Lagoon

Parts for the dewatering plant that will clean water pumped out of the Malibu Lagoon began arriving Wednesday at the project site.

With most of the vegetation already removed and the dike that separates the back channels from the main body of the lagoon nearly constructed, the dewatering process could begin in the coming weeks, according to Craig Sap, district supervisor for the California State Parks Los Angeles district.

The project's contractor, Ford E.C. Inc., has submitted the final dewatering plan to the California Coastal Commission, Sap said.

He said he will hand deliver the final plan to Malibu City Hall once it is ready to be released to the public. People will have anywhere from four to 10 days to review the plan before the dewatering starts, he said.

Some of the equipment that will used in the dewatering process—a term that refers to the removal of water from the lagoon—was delivered Wednesday morning, Sap said.

Opponents of the project said they began noticing a chlorine smell at the project site Wednesday, and that they were concerned about the odor.

According to Suzanne Goode, senior environmental scientist for State Parks, the dike is expected to be finished in the next few days.

Workers have blocked off areas where nesting birds have come, Goode said. The nests house five or six mallards, a coot and a song sparrow. The nests will not be touched until the birds and their fledglings have left the nest, which could be several weeks from now, she said.  

During this time, the project plans to make an internal road for heavy equipment to travel and finish the dike, she said.

Currently, biologists are monitoring any fish that are still left in the lagoon's channels. The fish found include mudsuckers, kelly fish (both native), and non-native mosquito fish. No tidewater gobies were found, she said.

"They're just a few stragglers left in the channels," Goode said. "We won't allow anything to move in there until it's completely empty of fish." 

Some larvae that biologists believe may be the tidewater gobi were found and relocated to State Park property nearby, Goode said.

As an extra precaution, before the construction workers start the dewatering process they will drag nets through the area one more time to make sure any remaining fish have been removed, Goode said.

In a few weeks the contractor will start removing vegetation along the access road as part of preparation to allow heavy equipment into the area.

"Once they do that, we can start shaping the channels," Goode said, "and then we're on our way."