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Rancho Palos Verdes reports limited landslide progress; city says water reuse plan unlikely soon
Summary
Mayor Paul Seo reported no movement on the eastern landslide and continued western movement of about 1.5''to 2 inches per week; roughly 200 households still lack utilities and staff say repurposing pumped water is technically possible but financially impractical at present.
Rancho Palos Verdes officials reported mixed progress on a multi-year landslide emergency and cautioned that large-scale reuse or sale of water pumped from the slide is unlikely in the near term.
Mayor Paul Seo said the eastern portion of the slide near Clonadine Canyon/Seaview showed "0 movement," while the western side continues to move about an inch-and-a-half to two inches per week. He said roughly 200 households remain without electricity, gas and other services and many are effectively living off-grid while the city pursues state and federal assistance.
"We're doing the best that we can," Seo said, adding the city's ability to fully solve the problem is constrained by funding: "Our hands are tied when it comes to the actual resource and the money to actually solve the problem."
The infrastructure management advisory committee (IMAAC) and the finance committee examined the feasibility of capturing, treating and repurposing the millions of gallons the city is pumping from the landslide area. Seo said the committees produced a robust report of roughly 23 to 25 pages that shows technical approaches exist, but the capital cost to build treatment and distribution infrastructure is high. "So financially, the city is not in a position yet to be able to execute that plan," he said.
Seo described the concept as still on the table and under staff review, but added the probability of near-term execution is "very little." He said the city will continue to advocate in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., for funding to backfill landslide-related expenditures.
What happens next: staff will continue to pursue outside funding and to monitor slide movement; utilities may restore services if movement falls below the engineering threshold (about an inch), according to the update.
