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What
is ACLAD? | Background | Board
Members The following is reprinted from the April 19, 2006 Rancho Palos Verdes City Council Agenda: The Abalone Cove Landslide Abatement District (ACLAD) is a “geologic hazard abatement district" created by the City of Rancho Palos Verdes and residences of the Abalone Cove community under special legislation passed by the California Legislature in l980 for the “purposes of prevention, mitigation, abatement or control” of the Abalone Cove landslide. It was the first geohazard abatement district created in the state. The District is governed by five elected Directors, which serve for a term of four years. Under the California Improvement Act of l911, the District may assess properties benefiting from the mitigation or abatement efforts for the cost of the improvements. ACLAD
is broadly responsible fore abatement efforts to prevent movement
of the Abalone Cove landslide. To do this, the district operates
and maintains dewatering wells and associated discharge lines,
easements to assure access to the dewatering facilities, monitors
groundwater elevations throughout the District, reviews measurements
of the Global Positioning System for evidence of slide movement
and works with the City of RPV to maintain certain storm culverts
and other improvements related to landslide abatement. In September 1978, the City Council of Rancho Palos Verdes was presented with information regarding cracks and movement along Palos Verdes Drive South and Narcissa Drive that indicated a new landslide (actually a reactivation of an old landslide) that was named the Abalone Cove landslide. The Council immediately established a building moratorium in the area and authorized the first in a series of geological investigations to define the problem and identify potential solutions. During March, l979, proposed legislation designed to permit the creation of a Geological Hazard Abatement District was forwarded to Senator Robert Beverly and Assemblywoman Marilyn Ryan for introduction as an emergency measure. At the same time, the Council hired Robert Stone and Associates to perform a comprehensive hydrogeologic investigation to determine the feasibility of dewatering the landslide. Later that year, the preliminary borehole tests favored installing a series of dewatering wells. On January 1, l980, Senate Bill 1195 authorizing the formation of a Geologic Hazard Abatement District become law as Division 17 of the Public Resources Code. The City Council immediately adopted Resolution 80-3, creating the Abalone Cove Landslide Abatement District (ACLAD). During the interim period, property owners within the greater Abalone Cove area voluntarily financed the drilling of six dewatering wells and began pumping operations by mid-April, l980. In early 1981, following the formation of ACLAD, the property owners transferred the wells to the District. The first directors of ALCAD included Skip Warner, Jim Stewart, Harriet Medve, John Tretheway and Councilman Ken Dyda. Who are the current Directors and Staff? The Directors must be the owners of real property within the District and are elected to a term of four years. Board members are volunteers who donate their time and energy to the community. The current Board member are:
Sandy Marshall is the District Clerk and Daphne Clark is the Manager of Well Operations. ACLAD is broadly responsible for abatement efforts to prevent movement of the Abalone Cove landslide. The most effective measurement is the dewatering wells and currently, the district operates and maintains 16 producing dewatering wells. These include wells drilled during the formation of ACLAD by the interim homeowners association, wells drilled under the authority of ACLAD, funded by issuance of a bond, and wells drilled by the City/RDA, funded by the Horan lawsuit settlement funds and subsequently transferred to ACLAD under an agreement between the city and the District. ACLAD also monitors the groundwater elevation in another 15 wells, including periodic re-drilling. Annual, ACLAD monitors the Global Positioning System (GPS) stations measurements for evidence of possible slide movement and works with the City of RPV to maintain the storm drain culvert extending beneath Palos Verdes Drive South. Due to the dewatering wells, the groundwater table within and immediately upslope of the landslide has been lowered significantly. This has halted the movement except during periods of exceptional rainfall (greater than about 25 inches annually) and has increased the stability of the Abalone Cove Landslide. The District conducts or contracts investigations related to the geology, rainwater discharge and groundwater flow in the area to aid in evaluating and developing abatement efforts. ACLAD charges property owners an annual assessment for the operation and maintenance of the various abatement facilities and ACLAD administrative costs. In fiscal 2008, the District collected about $60,000 in assessments, which, together with income from cash reserves, supports a budget of about $63,000 per year. The City of RPV, the largest property owner within the District, provides the largest annual assessment. In addition, through an agreement with the City's Join Powers Improvement Authority for Abalone Cove, funds are provided from the Horan Maintenance fund for a special maintenance program to rehab older wells with declining production. ACLAD meets the second Tuesday of each month in the Community Room of the Rancho Palos Verdes City Hall. The public is welcome. March 2007 Thanks to Bob Douglas for organizing and updating this information about ACLAD. |