Malibu Creek Watershed
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MALIBU CREEK WATERSHED ON EcosystemTHE Brink A SCIENTIFIC ROADMAP FOR PROTECTING A CRITICAL NATURAL RESOURCE MALIBU CREEK WATERSHED ON EcosystemTHE Brink A SCIENTIFIC ROADMAP FOR PROTECTING A CRITICAL NATURAL RESOURCE MALIBU CREEK WATERSHED ON EcosystemTHE Brink A SCIENTIFIC ROADMAP FOR PROTECTING A CRITICAL NATURAL RESOURCE AUTHORS Sarah Sikich 1 Katherine Pease 1 Sarah Diringer 1,2 Mark Abramson 1,3 Mark Gold 1,4 Shelley Luce 1,3 1 Heal the Bay, 1444 9th St., Santa Monica, CA 90401 2 Current Affiliation: Duke University, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hudson Hall, Durham, NC 27701 3 Current Affiliation: Santa Monica Bay Restoration Foundation, 1 LMU Drive, Pereira Annex MS: 8160, Los Angeles, CA 90045 4 Current Affiliation: University of California, Los Angeles, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, La Kretz Hall, Suite 300, Los Angeles, CA 90095 AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS Sarah Sikich contributed to the overall conceptual framework of the report, data analysis, and writing of the report. Katherine Pease assisted in writing the report as well as with data analysis. Sarah Diringer assisted in compiling and analyzing habitat assessment, water quality, and macroinvertebrate data, as well as writing of the report. Mark Abramson developed the Stream Team program and contributed to data collection and analysis. Mark Gold contributed to the development of the conceptual framework of the report, data interpretation, and writing. Shelley Luce assisted in data collection, analysis, and data interpretation. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report could not have been completed without the assistance of many individuals and organizations. We acknowledge the help of Mike Grimmer at Heal the Bay as well as former Stream Team staff who have contributed to data collection, analysis, and development of this report including Kevin Jontz, Alison Lipman, Joyce Sisson, Tova Handelman, and Stefan Partelow. We also thank Kate Elgin for data analysis and Rosi Dagit, from Santa Monica Mountains Resource Conservation District for collaboration. Jim Harrington from California Department of Fish and Wildlife and Sustainable Land Stewardship International Institute helped in the implementation of the Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program as well as analysis of the results. We greatly thank all the Stream Team volunteers who have contributed many hours of work; we particularly acknowledge Mike AN ECOSYSTEM ON THE BRINK THE ON ECOSYSTEM AN Bull, Heather Burdick, Damian Cowley, Jerry Gorelick, Russ Grimmer, Matt Horns, Mark Jacobi, Jacoba Lawson, Wes Merrill, Ben Pitterle, Katie Ranke, Beth Ryan, Beth Tanner, Paul Westefer, and Karen Yoshida. The report was peer-reviewed by Dr. Richard Ambrose, University of California, Los Angeles, Dr. Cindy Lin, United States Environmental Protection Agency, and Dr. Alex Tower, Santa Monica College, who provided thorough comments that greatly improved the report. We acknowledge our generous funding sources including the Coastal Conservancy, Goldhirsh Foundation, Santa Monica Bay Restoration Foundation and Commission, REI, Patagonia, and Alaskan Brewing’s Coastal CODE. Book Design: Joy Aoki MALIBU CREEK WATERSHED: MALIBU WATERSHED: CREEK 4 SUMMARY EXECUTIVE ON W aters T H E H BRI E D TabLE OF CONTENTS NK EXECUTIVE SUMMARY HA S tate B Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................11 itat OF Key Findings .......................................................................................................................................................14 T H Recommended Actions for Watershed Protection ....................................................................21 E CHAPTER 1: A WaTERSHED ON THE BRINK W S tate ater An Overview of the Malibu Creek Watershed ...............................................................................25 OF Q Stream Team Sampling Methods ..........................................................................................................30 ua T H L E ITY A Watershed on the Brink ..........................................................................................................................35 CHAPTER 2: STATE OF THE HABITAT BI S tate O ta Malibu Creek Watershed Land Use ......................................................................................................37 OF Mapping the Watershed: Malibu Creek Stream Walk ...............................................................44 T H E Stream Team Surveys and Restoration Activities ........................................................................57 Recommendations ........................................................................................................................................65 HEA P R CHAPTER 3: STATE OF THE WaTER QuaLITY O L P T O H IND SE Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................69 D S EX Nutrients ...............................................................................................................................................................70 TREAM Algae .......................................................................................................................................................................82 Dissolved Oxygen (DO) ...............................................................................................................................87 Conductivity .......................................................................................................................................................90 R CO EC NC Bacteria ..................................................................................................................................................................92 O MME L Turbidity ................................................................................................................................................................98 USI ON ND Water Quality Discussion and Analysis ...........................................................................................100 ati S Recommendations .....................................................................................................................................102 & ON S 5 CHAPTER 4: STATE OF THE BIOTA Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................105 Benthic Macroinvertebrates (BMI) and the Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) Background ......................................................................................................................................................107 IBI Trends in the Malibu Creek Watershed ....................................................................................109 Stressor Identification of Biological Condition ..........................................................................115 Percent Impervious Area .........................................................................................................................118 Recommendations .....................................................................................................................................120 CHAPTER 5: STREAM HEALTH INDEX Background .....................................................................................................................................................123 Methods ............................................................................................................................................................124 Results and Discussion .............................................................................................................................129 CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS Recommendations for the Future .....................................................................................................131 Riparian and In-Stream Habitat Protection ..................................................................................132 AN ECOSYSTEM ON THE BRINK THE ON ECOSYSTEM AN Implementation and Enforcement of Existing Water Quality Regulations ..............134 Reduce Nutrient and Bacteria to Background Concentrations.......................................136 Improve Biological Health and Diversity .......................................................................................138 INDEXES Acronyms ..............................................................................................................................................................9 Appendices ......................................................................................................................................................141 Figures.......................................................................................................................................................................7 Tables .........................................................................................................................................................................8 MALIBU CREEK WATERSHED: MALIBU WATERSHED: CREEK 6 FIGURES 1-1 Map of the Malibu Creek Watershed ..................................................................................26 1-2 Map of Heal the Bay Monitoring Sites ................................................................................33