Landslides in La Conchita

La Conchita is an unincorporated city of Ventura County, alongside Highway 101. It’s a quaint beach town with approximately 300 residents. Aside from the beach view, affordable housing has also been a reason that has kept its residents from moving away. A small town allows for residents to build a resilient social network. While La Conchita seems like the ideal place to live, the community faces a multitude of geographic hazards that increases risk of damage.

It is important to know that La Conchita is located at the base of a steep slope. This makes the area susceptible to erosion. Furthermore, increased rainfall can accelerate erosion into a dangerous landslide. This was proved to be likely in 1995, and then again in 2005 when the rainfall was more than expected. The remnants of the 1995 landslide were brought back to life and caused even more damage and fatalities.

The 2005 event in La Conchita was a deep-seated landslide, which is characterized as 10-15 ft. deep. These types of landslides take weeks, even months, to happen. It is often triggered by heavy rainfall. The already loosened sediment from the 1995 landslide made the 2005 event a lot more catastrophic. There are many areas along the community that are at risk of being affected should another landslide event happen.

Here is an aerial image of the 2005 landslide. The landslide moved rapidly giving very little time for residents to get to safer ground. You can see the plot of land that left homes inundated in sediment. You can also see that the landslide came from the same path of the 1995 event. Many people attribute the 2005 event to the orchards at the top of the bluffs. They believe that poor irrigation practices led to rapid erosion of already vulnerable sediment.  Over 30 structures were damaged, and there were 10 reported fatalities.

La Conchita is very much susceptible to another landslide event, even more so because the 2005 landslide has further made the land more vulnerable. Despite these risks, the community remains in the area. This could be attributed to their connection to their environment and neighbors. The proposal of a grading project to improve safety in the area was rejected because it would cost taxpayers millions of dollars. The community instead took it upon their own hands to improve their environment. Concerned residents formed the La Conchita Community Organization whose main focus was to improve safety concerns. Collectively, members raised fund to purchase emergency preparedness gear/tools. Most notably, they were able to purchase a tractor that will come in handy to remove debris, should another landslide happen. The resiliency of the community has allowed for them to create a system of their own that they can depend on.