Newsletter #2
FOTP NEWSLETTER #2
Since our last newsletter, FOTP has been busy working to represent the Topanga beach community, which lifeguards estimate at 750,000 visitors per year. We participated in a meeting with representatives from State Parks, Resource Conservation District of The Santa Monica Mountains ("RCDSMM"), engineering firm Moffat & Nichol, and Surfrider Foundation. The meeting was productive and collaborative, and we are optimistic moving forward.
Here are some of the highlights we discussed:
THE RESTORATION PROJECT
The restoration project is still in the planning and draft Environmental Impact Report ("EIR") preparation stages. The agencies intend to release the draft EIR in 2023.
Topanga creek is the only watershed with natural hydrology left in SoCal, and is home to 5 native fish and 28 reptiles, including the endangered southern steelhead whose status is the driving force behind the restoration.
Historically, the lagoon was much larger and the creek mouth more westerly toward boomers and the helipad. The current narrow bridge creates high velocity flows when the creek breeches which impede adult steelhead trout from entering the creek from the ocean.
The lagoon restoration goals include creating habitat for endangered tidewater gobies as well as providing ‘refugia’ and a greater window of time opportunity for federally endangered southern steelhead to gain safe passage upstream to spawn. Proposed potential actions include construction of a longer PCH bridge span and rerouting the highway, re-contouring existing fill, relocating the lifeguard tower and helipad, and increasing lagoon size and habitat for native species.
Other long-term goals may include creating a ‘living shoreline’ environment in which natural dunes and an integrated watershed at the beach help manage sedimentation and stay ahead of sea level rise and erosion.
THE BEACH AND THE SURF
FOTP stated that our key concerns with the project are preserving the beach, the quality of surf, and adequate parking for beachgoers and surfers.
A major topic of discussion was preserving the beach and surf from unintended adverse impacts of the restoration project. FOTP stated our concern that the lifeguard station and helipad—which would be moved under some potential project alternatives—appear to serve as anchors protecting the beach sections to the west of each from eroding away (as has occurred to the beach east of the lifeguard building). We want to ensure that the agencies and public understand the cumulative impacts to the beach and point of removing those features from their current locations, along with creating a larger lagoon, longer bridge, and any potential for the creek mouth to migrate (particularly to the east).
FOTP posed the question about beach erosion, and whether the cumulative effects of moving the lifeguard tower, helipad, and possibly creek mouth had been modeled/studied. We were told that they had not, and RCDSMM agreed that these variables were worth modeling. We heard that the hydrologic/hydraulic analyses completed to date were not sufficient to address what if any impacts to the beach itself from any project alternative would result, and the participants stated their intent to develop a proposal for such a study of shoreline morphology (more on that below).
We also discussed sea level rise and a LA County study which predicts that under some scenarios impacts to beach resources will become severe. (FOTP seeks to ensure that the lagoon restoration project does not exacerbate adverse impacts from other causes, and that it preserves beach and surfing resources.)
The agencies stated that the four potential EIR alternatives and their elements can be mixed and matched.
RCDSMM acknowledged that protecting the surf break and beach should be considered “proposed key project elements,” updating their existing status as “additional” project elements.
WHAT’S NEXT
A follow-up meeting has been scheduled to address the particulars of the proposed new shoreline morphology study to address our concerns described above. It is our understanding that RCDSMM intends to, in the coming weeks, accept bids for the study. FOTP will closely follow and provide input to this process, with the goal of ensuring a credible scientific basis for the agencies and public to evaluate project alternatives.
Regular meetings will be scheduled with all the parties above with the goal of continued collaboration.
Overall, we came away from the meeting with new information and the sense that we are working positively with the various agencies, and the proposed new study addressing our concerns indicates we are being heard. RCDSMM has also reopened their public input email address, so if you haven’t already done so, take a moment and express your comments. here: www.rcdsmm.org/resources/topanga-lagoon-restoration/
And if you have any questions or comments for us, you can always contact us at info@friendsoftopangapoint.org
Stay tuned for further updates, continue to spread the word, and thanks for your continued support.
See you in the water,
FOTP
Russ CarolynPeterAaron Jay