Little Sign of Life in Malibu Lagoon's Channels, Biologists Say

During the removal of soil from the Malibu Lagoon's channels, biologists found little signs of life other than a few clams, according to the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission.

The biologists did not find any "worns, insect larvae, or any of the aquatic invertebrates that we would normally expect to see living in a wetland," the commission wrote in its latest update on the project.

The Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission is a partner on the Malibu Lagoon Restoration and Enhancement Project with California State Parks, which is the lead agency.

Opponents have spoken out in opposition to the work in the channels, stating that it should not have been started until the project's was completed first. The dewatering plant was being assembled at the lagoon this past week.

On the corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Webb Way, protesters have displayed more than a dozen signs, including some that read "We Want Water Testing Daily" and "Malibu Massacre."

According to the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission, the bulldozers have started to uncover the historic wetlands.

"It’s very exciting to unearth the real Malibu Lagoon and to know that it
will be brought back to life and allowed to thrive once again. In the process, lots of trash has been removed: chunks of asphalt and concrete, discarded telephone poles, truck tires, lots of plastic debris, old pipe – all dumped over the last hundred years and burying the original wetlands," the commission wrote.

Mark Abramson, a senior watershed advisor at the Santa Monica Bay Foundation, said in a recent interview that the dewatering could begin by next week.

Some tests on the water pumped out of the lagoon will be done daily, and others will be less often, Abramson said.

"State Park's mission is to protect the public's health and safety as well as the health of wildlife," Abramson said.