Several Malibu Beaches Win High Marks for Clean Water

MALIBU, Calif., June 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Documenting Malibu's commitment to protecting public health and improving ocean water quality, Heal the Bay's 2009-2010 Annual Beach Report Card gave several local beaches high marks for clean water and singled out the City's Paradise Cove Clean Ocean Project for praise, Malibu Mayor Jefferson Wagner said today.

"We're thrilled to see Heal the Bay documenting and recognizing the City of Malibu's substantial achievements in protecting public health and improving ocean water quality," Mayor Wagner said. "The City of Malibu is aggressively moving forward with more than $50 million in investments in ambitious and innovative stormwater and urban run-off projects to protect all ocean users from around the world when they visit our beaches."

Heal the Bay, a nonprofit group, issues a beach report card every year that awards beaches a grade from "A to F" based on the ocean water quality. In issuing its 2009-2010 Annual Beach Report Card last week, it singled out the City's Paradise Cove Clean Ocean Project for praise. The organization also said it hopes "to see A grades at this beach well into the future."

Designed to handle low flows to heavy rainfall runoff, the Paradise Cove Clean Ocean Project has the capacity to capture, clean and disinfect up to 1.3 million gallons per day of stormwater and urban runoff from the Ramirez Creek watershed. With three different filtration systems, the new facility will efficiently remove trash, sediment and bacteria from stormwater and urban runoff before it reaches the ocean.

The Report Card also noted significant improvements at Marie Canyon in Malibu, where the County of Los Angeles and the City of Malibu partnered in the completion of a new UV treatment facility in 2007. The facility is designed to filter and treat as many as 100 gallons per minute of dry and wet weather runoff.

In addition, Heal the Bay's report said: "There were some stretches of very good to excellent summer water quality in western Malibu from Leo Carrillo to Walnut Creek on Point Dume" and gave high scores to several of the City's beaches.  Among those were El Pescador Beach, Nicholas Beach and Encinal Canyon at El Matador State Beach. Each of these received an A+ year-round. Others that received high scores were: Malibu Point, Carbon Beach, Zuma Beach, Big Rock Beach, Las Flores State Beach and Pena Creek at Las Tunas County Beach.

"We treasure our beaches and the ocean, and we want all our beaches to receive A's," said Mayor Wagner. "Where they don't receive A's, we will continue to work aggressively to improve water quality so they can receive top scores.  In addition to celebrating the opening of the Paradise Cove Clean Ocean Project later this month, we also plan to launch operations this fall at Legacy Park, which will improve water quality in Malibu Creek, in Malibu Lagoon and at the world-famous Surfrider Beach."

Legacy Park is the centerpiece of the City's $50 million commitment to clean water. It will capture up to 2.6 million gallons of stormwater and urban runoff each day for cleaning and disinfection. The treated stormwater and runoff will be reused for irrigation, as needed.

The City of Malibu was incorporated on March 28, 1991. Located in northwest Los Angeles County, the City has 21 miles of coastline along the Pacific Ocean and a population of 12,575. For more information, please visit http://www.ci.malibu.ca.us/.

SOURCE The City of Malibu