Palos Verdes Land Movement Update

Federal and State Legislators Tour Landslide Area

On Oct. 22, Councilmember Dave Bradley, Councilmember Paul Seo and City Manager Ara Mihranian led a tour of the landslide area for federal, state, and local legislators.  The group included Rep. Ted Lieu, Rep. Adam Schiff, State Sen. Ben Allen, Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, representatives from the offices of Sen. Laphonza Butler and L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn, and Rolling Hills Mayor Pro Tem Jeff Pieper, Councilmember Patrick Wilson, and City Manager Karina Bañales.  

The lawmakers and staff got an up-close look at damage to neighborhoods in the landslide area and learned about the city’s efforts to slow the landslide with dewatering wells removing millions of gallons of deep groundwater per week to reduce water pressure that is fueling the slide. 

The tour came after the city last week submitted an appropriations request to Rep. Lieu seeking $20 million for continued landslide stabilization and winterization efforts. This includes fissure filling to prevent rain runoff from recharging the groundwater table, constructing surface drains to properly convey rain runoff to the ocean or storm drains, and installing additional dewatering wells. 

Federal Legislators Sign Joint Letter Urging FEMA to Provide Support to Residents Impacted by Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Movement

On Oct. 1, Rep. Lieu led a joint letter with Sen. Alex Padilla, Sen. Butler, and Rep. Schiff urging the Federal Emergency Management Agency or FEMA to identify any assistance and funding that can be made available to residents impacted by land movement in Rancho Palos Verdes and on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. In the letter, the members called on administrator Deanne Criswell to consider ways in which FEMA can help impacted communities in conjunction with other local, state and federal efforts to mitigate the dangerous ground movements and provide relief for impacted homeowners.  

A copy of the letter (PDF) is available on Rep. Lieu’s website.