Solstice Steelhead Restoration Plans Making Progress

• Corral Canyon Road Bridge Construction Will Remove Another Barrier

BY BILL KOENEKER

Municipal officials are close to helping remove another obstacle in Solstice Creek in preparation for returning the steelhead trout to the nearly pristine stream. The latest move—the construction of a replacement bridge—comes on the heels of the National Park Service, which owns a large chunk of the canyon, removing almost all of the obstacles in the upstream portions of the creek in the multi-agency attempt to restore the year-round running stream in Solstice Canyon as fish habitat.

The Malibu City Council, at its next meeting, is poised to award a $770,000 contract for the construction of the replacement bridge on Corral Canyon Road. The concrete box culvert under the bridge was identified as an obstacle to fish passage that needs to be removed. The city had accepted a $637,815 grant from the state Department of Fish and Game for the removal of the barrier to allow fish to continue swimming up the creek under the Corral Canyon Road Bridge.

The state Department of Transportation has indicated it will be involved in removing what will be one of the last obstacles when the state agency begins reconstruction of the culvert under Pacific Coast Highway to allow for fish passage from the creek to the ocean and back. Steelhead spawn in the creek and then return to the open ocean before returning once again to their birthplace in various coastal creeks up and down the Pacific coast.

The city’s award, given in 2004, is already less than the total expense of the current project. Escalating costs of construction materials and labor and some of the uncertainties and risks of building in a live streambed have left the project with a $383,000 deficit, according to municipal officials.

Consequently, the staff is recommending the city use its own money to supplement the matching funds required for the grant. The original matching funds were initially pledged by Heal the Bay and the National Park Service. The city needs to act now so the grant money is not lost when the grant expires in March 2007.

“This project is proposed to be fast tracked through [an] expedited advertising/award process,” wrote Granville “Bow” Bowman, the city’s special projects manager, in a staff report. “Thereby saving an estimated three to four weeks of time.” Construction for the project, if the council approves the contract, would begin in February and be completed by the deadline at the end of March 2007.

The state DFG has completed the environmental documents required by the California Environmental Quality Act and plans and specifications have been prepared and completed by the staff and a consulting firm, according to Bowman.


CAPTION 1.

FREE-FLOWING—This barrier was removed to allow steelhead to traverse the waterway. Even small dams can create impenetrable obstacles for the endangered fish.