Surfers cannot be forced out of the water, even if the beach is closed.

The present day Civic Center is an impaired floodplain/wetland because of 10' to 20' of landfill and commercial development placed on top of a high water table. We hope the acquisition of the 20-acre Chili Cook Off property (center open-space) will be the beginning of thehistorical wetland restoration process. It is estimated by reputable wetland scientists that at least 2-times the size of the 20-acre Chili Cook Off property is necessary to holistically restore clean water back to the eco-system. From this photo you can see the close proximity of the two shopping centers dangerously close to the Creek and Lagoon and in the path of a 50-year storm. Check out the 1995 50-year storm.

Tapia's sewage treatment facility is located at the bottleneck of the watershed and next to the Malibu Creek.

From this position in the watershed, gravity carries waste water from the upper watershed developments to the Tapia facility. Then treated waste water is discharged into the creek and ends up at Surfrider.

CLICK TO SEE LARGE IMAGE OF THE MALIBU CENTER TOPO MAP.
CLICK TO SEE LARGE IMAGE OF THIS PHOTO OF THE MALIBU CENTER IN 1938

Malibu Surfrider is one of the most popular beaches in the world with an estimated 1.5 million visitors every year for the past ten years. When the surf is big there can be over a hundred surfers in the water at one time. In the winter the turn-over rate is three times per day. In the summer its five times.

INTRODUCTION
by
Bob Purvey

Ugly's eco-site is a follow-up report on the investigative work and challenges I faced since 1992, to restore clean water at world famous Malibu Surfrider Beach.

The subject is complex, but to make it easier to understand, this site is set up in six sections that are inter-active, with user-friendly links, to a lot of important information from credible scientists to practical discussions.

On the sides here, you will see pictures with captions that describe the situation and there are links in yellow, which will lead you to more detailed information.

This site is also built with the purpose to educate and call to action! The heart of Malibu is imperilled and must become a National Santuary if we are to get clean and safe water restored at Surfrider, once and for all.

Despite the fact that many improvements have been made and the two major contributors of pollution at Surfrider are on the mend, Surfrider still has the distinction of being one of the most polluted beaches in the Santa Monica Bay.

I see Malibu, like many other Malibu pollution concerned citizens, as an example of a highly conscious environmental community and its challenges to restore a vital organ in this precious and important ecosystem.

Our goal is to turn the heart of Malibu into a true, meaningful sanctuary for the biodiversity of life that naturally exists here. Our ideal restoration may take 37 years now that the City has entered into a leasing agreement to add another shopping center to the area.

You may have your own vision once you set your eyes on Dawn Navarro Ericson's exquisite "Malibu Wetland" poster and enjoy the remnant native wildlife that is strugling to survive amidst ill-placed commercial development, parking lots and bumper to bumper traffic. Once you've seen it, there will be no doubt in your mind. You will agree that this area requires a federally designated sanctuary status and all the protections and federal enforcement.

It is the only 100% holistic method that will restore a significant area that shall reflect upon Malibu's great character.

Major scientific reports that are online presently are the UCLA 2000 Study of The Lower Malibu Creek Watershed (click here), which includes a significant amount of historical information about the Malibu Creek floodplain, wetland and logoon system, and The Malibu Creek Watershed Action Plan (click here), provides a watershed-wide community effort to solve the pollution problems.

In time I will find a way to link up the Malibu wetland delineation study by Dr. Terry Huffman, author of the Army Corp of Engineer's Wetland Delineation Manual. There are other studis and I will locate them all in time.

We aspire to demonstrate that an individual can really have an impact simply by following the heart, taking action locally with a global perspective in mind. Therefore we invite you to comment on this site and help improve its method to impart information in a multi-media environment. We are constantly working on it to improve its functionality, so any suggestion about anything would help. Thank you.

Within the Malibu community exists a radical fringe group of realtors and spec-developers with a bottom-line profit motive. They wish to saturate Malibu with ill-placed buildings and parking lots. They occupy the City Council and Planning Commission meetings and use dis-information along with bending the law to allow for ill-placed development that encroaches on sensitive habitat. The heart of Malibu is a typical example.

After you've had an opportunity to understand the information here, you're invited to join us in our mission to reach others, to let them know that the heart of Malibu serves as an indicator, a model and a microcosm of the world's pollution challenges, and needs to be saved and protected as a sanctuary for future generations.

There are three actions we must now take to effectively restore safe water quality at Surfrider: 1) Restore the historical wetland , 2) stop Tapia 's discharge into Malibu Creek and 3) reduce the weight of your carbon footprint.

Restoring, protecting and preserving the value of common areas such as wetlands, rain-forests, parks, greenbelts, streams and oceans will effectively reduce global warming.

From 1992 through 1995, I represented Malibu Surfriders, Inc. From 1996 through 1998, I represented the Malibu Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation , and from 1998 through September 2003, I represented the Malibu Coastal Land Conservancy. Then I started The Ugly Clothing Company to advance surfing and eco-activism.

Please take the time to look through the new Malibu eco-site and perhaps you will learn that you count in this high drama of land ownership and rights, politics and doing the right thing for the common-good.

NOTE: You should find our eco-site to be full of information, engaging and interactive. More will be added as time and information permits. Please join our email list to get update information.

Intro - History - Wetland Restoration - The Tapia Effect - Your Carbon Footprint - Video

Purvey's first documentary, Malibu Creek and Its Surrounding Watershed, won three Falcon Cable awards: Best Producer, Best Communicator and Best Folk Song.
Purvey brought together the team that organized the Save the Malibu event in 1997 and the Big Wednesday membership drive that grew 400 new members for the Malibu Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation. He also represented the chapter on the Malibu Creek Watershed Council and Lagoon Task Force from 1996 to 1998.

Read the article from Longboard Magazine.

Malibu artist, Dawn Navarro Ericson (www.mantapublications.com) created this magnificent poster in 2004 to educate about the natural wildlife that is part of the Malibu Wetland and Lagoon eco-system. This poster has been distributed to over 750 schools in the Los Angeles and Santa Monica Unified School District to be used as a learning tool for students. click here to see larger image.


You can see only half of the shopping centers because of the wing of the plane this picture was taken in.

This 1995 50-year flood brushed up under the Pacific Coast Highway bridge. CLICK HERE TO SEE THE VIDEO Imagine the impact of a 100-year flood, which is what any development is supposed to sustain according to Malibu's General Plan.