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1941 MALIBU LAGOON AS SEEN FROM THE NORTHEAST This photo of Malibu Lagoon taken by a Fox Location Department scout shows what was in the Restoration area in 1941: nothing, nada, rien, bupkes. What was a debris deposit then and is the Restoration area now was flat and at sea and creek level. There is a channel there that might be natural, because it appears in older maps – that 1903 snakehead, cut off. But there is no plant life there at all. It's flat. It's boring. It's not visitor-serving or a habitat for birds and it doesn’t have any bridges. But that is what nature laid down over millennia and in terms of surf and steelhead, it was a thriving, natural ecosystem that needed no improvement. |
Friends, Romans, concerned citizens
Still confused about the Malibu Lagoon Restoration and Enhancment plan?
I was too because, in the words of Elton John, "All the science, I don't understand."
But then I put together lots of historic photos, exhibits and visuals, which might make sense.
At risk of inspiring more sound and fury and getting run out of town on a rail after getting tarred and feathered, I was going to keep the following between myself and Judge Ernest H. Goldsmith—the San Francisco Superior Court judge who will be ruling on how to proceed with the Malibu Lagoon Restoration and Enhancement plan.
But in the spirit of Steve Jobs, who said:
"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma—which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."
I am posting the cover letter to Judge Goldsmith and also most of the visual exhibits I sent him with explanations of what I think should be done with Malibu Lagoon.
In essence: Restore it to nature's original design and leave it alone. And nature's original design couldn't be more simple: There was nothing there.
Or, if you are going to mess with nature, create a permanent channel near the top of the point that will allow the ocean to flow in and flush it all out twice a day, and allow the sediment to flow straight out.
This will hopefully create that mind-boggling wave that peeled from Third to First circa 1947.
And bring the steelhead back.
The Honorable Ernest Goldsmith
San Francisco Superior Court #613
400 McAllister Street
San Francisco, CA 94102-4514
October 6, 2011
Your honor
On Oc. 27, you will be making a decision as to whether the Malibu Lagoon Restoration and Enhancement plan should be permanently halted, altered or allowed to go according to the plan approved by the California Coastal Commission one year ago in October of 2010.
I have lived in Malibu for eight years and standup paddle at First Point every day. I have written several articles about Malibu history for Malibu Magazine and Malibu Patch, and recently completed a photo pictorial history of Malibu for Arcadia Publishing.
I can say with some certainty that I know Malibu history as well or better than just about anyone alive—from the Chumash to MASH.
A few months ago, I covered a contentious City Council meeting regarding the Lagoon Restoration. I have written a few pieces on the subject for Malibu Patch and I have also tried to follow the invective that comes from both side of this green on green, uncivil war. I won't try to defend or reject all of the arguments made by others, but I have my own ideas on what should be done with Malibu Lagoon, and I hope you have the time to read them.
The way I see it, the sound and fury over what to do with Malibu Lagoon is a Seinfeldian argument over nothing. That's not to say tidewater gobies aren't important, or bird habitat, or water quality or the possible effect on surf conditions from Third Point to First Point aren't important.
The nothing I am talking about is what naturally originally laid down at the mouth of Malibu Creek—in the area that is being fought over so loud and divisively.
If you will examine these exhibits below, and my explanations, the argument I make is that nature's original design for Malibu Lagoon was nothing: no channeling, no flora, no bird habitat, no nothing.
What nature laid down over millennia—and before human meddling—was a flat, featureless debris deposit: not picturesque, not visitor-serving, but a nothingness that worked, as recently as the 1940s.
Malibu Lagoon and Malibu Creek in the 1940s supported a thriving population of steelhead moving upstream, and a flow of sand and sediment flowing downstream that went straight out to sea and created a safer sand barrier along the Malibu Colony and a surfable wave from Third Point to First Point that was much, much better than what surfers want to protect now.
In essence, I argue that the bulldozers should be allowed to roll, and they should come in and flatten this area into the boring, functional nothingness that nature originally intended. In a way, it's a simple plan. No engineering or science needed, really.
Ben Marcus
Malibu, California
