Weighing in on the Malibu Controversy...

Alright, so Surfline just posted an article concerning the new dredging project that's gonna occur in June at the Malibu Lagoon. Close to 90,000 cubic-yards of mud and sand is planned to be removed (the walkway bridges and islands will also be removed in the process), in the hopes of restoring a bit more of a natural balance to the constantly stagnant (and consistently stinky) body of water.

Removing the sand will cause more water to flow through the lagoon, essentially flushing it out. This should help improve water quality both on and offshore, since the lagoon empties into the line up at Malibu Beach.

However, despite the fact that City of Malibu, the Surfrider foundation, and Heal the Bay have given their collective thumbs-up for the project (they gave the go-ahead back in November), a few local surfers and environmentalists are taking a firm stand against the clean up.

These locals (such as the great Allen Sarlo) say that the project will not only make the water quality worse, but it will also irrevocably damage the surf as well. Since the initial dredging project in '83, these same locals have often complained that Third and Second point were altered so dramatically that the surf has never been the same. A new dredging project, they say, will only make things worse.

Honestly, after reading the Surfline article, (and the Los Angeles Time piece that covered this issue in November) I'm confident that this project is the right thing to do. I trust that the Surfrider foundation and the Heal the Bay Org. would not support a project if they believed it would have negative environmental consequences. This is the right thing to do. 

The Surfer: Categorizing the Unknown

In The History of Surfing, Matt Warshaw described attempts during the 1960s at creating a census of American surfers. Rough estimates varied widely: foam-maker Gordon Clark estimated that there were around 200,000 total surfers in the country, while Newsweek generously estimated that there were close to 1,000,000 wave riders nationwide.


According to Warshaw, the reason for the varied numbers was simple: it’s difficult to define exactly what a surfer is. Is a surfer someone who owns a board? Or what about someone who only surfs during the summer? For that matter, what about a sponger or body surfer? Do they even count?

Of the many who have sought to answers these particular questions, no one has offered a more poignant conclusion than the mainstream media.


If you want to read more, follow the link below to Surfermag.com:

My article for Surfer Mag!