COMMUNITY NOTICE
(07/05/2024)
COMMUNITY NOTICE From SRA Board:
KCLAD, City Council and Stakeholders Meetings
Land Movement Updates
KCLAD meeting 7/2/24
- Well production has been stable without much change in the water table. Plans for the new well down by the beach are progressing and well drilling will be starting very soon. KCLAD has approved accepting the City terms.
City Council Meeting 7/2/24.
- Abalone Cove sewer system fees. Operations of this have been subsidized by the general fund of the city. There has been a significant increase in repair costs due to land movement. That having been said, the recommendation of staff was for a CPI increase of 4% only which is consistent with increases in the past. The City Council approved this but will revisit the support next year.
- Extension of the emergency declaration for the landslide. The City passed this with other directions given to city staff as noted below.
- Geologic update.
- Michael Magee’s report indicates land movement continues to accelerate as has been seen since 10/2022. Acceleration increases of 41% compared to time frame March/April. Abalone Cove moving 7-11 inches/ week. PB 11-12 inches per week; Klondike canyon 1 inch/week eastern, 7 inches per week Western boundary. Most of the movement is in the central part of the landslide where movement is at a rate of 12 inches/week. This is different than past land movement behavior.
- Expansion has been seen between 50 and 150 feet in SeaView, but still within the confines of the past land movements. Current feeling is no further Eastern expansion is likely. Western expansion is about 180 feet. Overall, about 5 acres added for total of 680 acres.
- There is an expedited process for reviews of foundation repairs being done.
- Overall rates of movement are greater than at any time in the recorded past. The rate of acceleration appears to be decreasing, but still overall increasing.
- In the opinion of Mike Phipps, there will be no permanent fixes for foundations until land movement slows. Repair requests seen to date are temporizing efforts.
- In 2007 when there was the last significant movement. That movement stabilized after about 2- and one-half years.
- Per Mike Phipps, the differences in patterns of movement that are being seen compared to past movement does suggest that the data from the current bore holes will be very important in determining if the current hydrauger plan will need to be changed. He feels another 1-2 data sets are needed to be able to make some predictions on land movement changes.
- Preserve conditions.
- There are 9 miles of trail closures. That is an increase of 1 mile compared to last month. Vast majorities are in Abalone Cove and Portuguese Bend.
- Mitigation Measures
- Cal Water will be bringing additional pipes above ground in Seaview.
- Cal water proposing to bring additional piping and water mains above ground along PVDS.
- LA County Sanitation District. PVDS trunk lines. Pipeline disruption led to emergency action to bring piping along Klondike canyon above ground
- SeaView LA county public works. Significant misalignment along Dauntless, with regular pumping of sewage. There will be a bypass line tomorrow with repairs following that. Longer term options are not clear currently. May be a combination of redirected flow and pumps. Comment was made by a representative of LA County Public Works. They have been pumping weekly. This is now deemed to be insufficient. There will be a bypass line installed tomorrow for sewage from 20 homes. Repair plans will include flexible lines. Major issue is the laterals from homes that are at risk. More will be known when they open a trench to get at the lines. They anticipate continuous on-site presence over the next several days.
- SCE updates. Will be decommissioning lines to 3 properties in Portuguese Bend due to danger of fire and inability to access for repairs. Options are being considered, but as yet not clear as to what could be done. The City Council asked that city staff ensure that options for residents have been explored and discussed with residents. The City Council also asked city staff to explore alternative above ground options that could be done to preserve electrical power.
- KCLAD/ACLAD Interruption of video streaming during this portion of the meeting. Report of well outputs was done and later discussed. ACLAD is about 100,000 gallons per day and KCLAD is about 200,000 gallons per day. Gordon Leon explained that differences in the water levels themselves account for much of this.
- PVDS.
- Signage is going in for closure to bicycles and motorcycles.
- Regrading plan for PVDS is proceeding. Looking at options for partial versus complete road closure.
- Emergency Hydraugers.
- 3 boreholes have been completed and 4thunderway.
- Will be bringing in another drill. Anticipating 6 more weeks of drilling.
- Early indications are that the slide plain is deeper than expected. Beyond that, it is too early to report findings.
- There was discussion by the City Council on options for homeowners needing to move out of their homes as to temporary housing options that may be possible on their property. The City Manager offered to explore some options of adjustments to zoning codes to expand possible use of cargo containers. The City Council directed staff to explore this and other temporary housing options. The City Council also asked staff to ask Cal Water about possible automatic shut off valves for major leaks to allow for more rapid water shutoff.
- Geologic update.
- Emergency loans for ACLAD and KCLAD. Some modifications to the terms of the loans have been put in place and request by staff was to approve the loans. Additional conditions were related to oversight and financial reporting. Financial projections were created for both landslide abatement districts including budgeting for expenditures and assessments plan. KCLAD would like to use their existing reserves to start new well drilling and drainage at the upper canyon almost immediately. Both districts have accepted the terms of the loans with the request by ACLAD to have their loan be $1.61M. City Council approved the loans.
Stakeholders Meeting 7/03/24
- Declaration of emergency updates. The City has not gotten a response asking to have disaster center at Ladera Linda. Residents are advised to use the web portal process and reminded of the deadline that is upcoming July 16th, 2024.
- Geotechnical updates. Community is referred to the City Council meeting from last night.
- LA county sanitation district. The sewer trunk line was moved above ground last Friday on an urgent basis.
- SeaView sewer lines. LA County Public Works installed a sewer bypass line. This will divert sewage between two of the manholes along Dauntless. Planning for a possible trench to allow for easier access is being contemplated. This may impact access to driveways in the area as there would need to be fencing applied. The bypass would involve the pumping of sewage. An ask was made to post the proposed pumping schedule so residents would be knowledgeable about the frequency of diversion and be able to provide feedback on the adequacy of this.
- Portuguese Bend. Multiple breaks. Plans are in place for elevation of lines above ground and
- SCE. They are unable to deliver power to several properties in the upper Portuguese Bend area. Currently working with City and residents to find alternatives.
- So Cal Gas. They are looking for two locations for isolation valves to be able to turn off service to the area. There will be an update for the SeaView residents soon.
- Cal Water. There have been recent water line breaks in SeaView. Cal Water was not at this meeting but had relayed information via City Staff. There will be 24/7 coverage for SeaView and Portuguese Bend. Residents are advised to report any leaks to Cal Water 310-257-1400. There is ongoing work on the elevation of additional lines above ground due to expanding land movement.
- Hydraugers. Advancing with the 4thborehole this week. For the rest of the update, see the City Council summary. The plan is to drill to 340 feet of depth. Information from the borings will likely be able to formulate a picture of the geology in a few weeks.
- PVDS. The City is looking at partial versus full closure of the road for repairs. City ask is to have the resident’s association solicit opinions from residents as to which would be preferrable.
- GPS surveying started for the next round this week.
- SeaView. The new Grabens will be targeted to be filled in and coordinated with PVDS work. A query was made as to a more sustainable solution for the upcoming rainy season to avoid water collection in the grabens.
- Portuguese Bend Community. Much ongoing work for road repairs.
- KCLAD/ACLAD. Please see updates from the City Council meeting. There are ongoing pump issues due to ongoing land movement. While funding has been approved, there are actions by the districts that and by Portuguese Bend to allow for hydrauger equipment on site for the KCLAD projects. ACLAD has had ongoing shearing of wells. They are experimenting with different materials to try to prevent this.
- For residents with questions about what they are facing in their homes, but with concerns about possible red tagging of their homes, David Rasor (Information of his contact information on the city web site) who runs Building and Safety for the city can be a contact that you could contact by phone to ask questions and for advice without running a risk of triggering an inspection. Wayfarer’s chapel did this and they provided an endorsement of the process of reaching out.
- Rolling Hills. A June meeting was scheduled but had to be postponed. The City is working to set up a new meeting. A subcommittee of the City Council has been working on the meeting and of whether a separate hydrology effort could be done just by RPV. It is felt that a hydrology report will be more complete and informative if done in cooperation with Rolling Hills.