$23M Grant Will Help Address Portuguese Bend Landslide Complex

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, CA — A federal grant for $23.33 million awarded to the city of Rancho Palos Verdes will help fund critical improvements needed to slow the Portuguese Bend Landslide, one of the largest continuously active landslides in the country.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency grant is believed to be the largest investment in landslide mitigation under any FEMA program and is the largest grant ever secured by the city. To complete the project, the city will work to identify additional funding for about $10 million needed to match federal funds.

“The City has been exploring engineering solutions to manage the landslide for decades,” said Rancho Palos Verdes City Manager Ara Mihranian. “In 2017, a renewed process began that culminated in the current project that has a price tag of $33 million. Receiving the FEMA BRIC grant in the amount of $23.33 million will enable the City to address the costly and damaging land movement. This will leave an indelible mark on the City, Peninsula and the South Bay for decades to come by addressing an imminent threat to public health, safety and the environment.”

The Portuguese Bend Landslide is part of a larger complex of ancient landslides that was reactivated in 1956 by Los Angeles County's planned extension of Crenshaw Boulevard, city officials said. The complex has been slowly moving ever since, causing homes to slide by hundreds of feet over the years and costing the city nearly $1 million annually in repairs.

Recently, surface water has caused the land to move significantly quicker with engineers saying they have seen essentially a year's worth of movement in just a few months. The city is in the process of developing an Environmental Impact Report that aims to reduce the movement by two inches per year.

If not addressed, the sudden movements could result in the failure of Palos Verdes Drive South, bifurcating the city and causing raw sewage to spill into the ecologically sensitive shoreline and ocean, city officials said.

“This $22.33 million grant is a tremendous boost that will make it possible for the City to address the long-looming threat posed to our community by the landslide and prevent a dual public safety and environmental disaster,” said Rancho Palos Verdes Mayor Pro Tem John Cruikshank. “We thank FEMA and Cal OES for recognizing the urgency of this critical project, which is underscored by the accelerated land movement we have seen in recent months."

Following feedback after the draft Environmental Impact Report was released in February, city engineers reexamined components of the plan to account for community concerns. After its publication, the city received 45 comment letters on the Draft EIR covering various topics including concerns about native plants, water collection and construction logistics.

Going forward, city staff proposed a tentative and aggressive timeline for the project that would have the final EIR ready in September 2024 and would have construction on the project begin in late 2025.

Duration of construction could last anywhere from 18 to 24 months depending on the decisions made when finalizing engineering plans, Public Works Director Ramzi Awwad said.