RPV Gets $5M After Landslide Costs Reach $15M In 1 Year

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, CA — Rancho Palos Verdes will receive $5 million from the state to help offset the extraordinary cost of fighting the Portuguese Bend landslide, after the city spent about $15 million on its response during the last fiscal year alone.

Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi announced the funding Monday, describing it as support for the city's ongoing efforts to stabilize the Greater Portuguese Bend-Ancient Altamira Landslide Complex and prepare for winter storms.

City officials clarified to Patch that the $5 million is a one-time reimbursement for landslide stabilization expenses the city has already incurred, rather than new money earmarked for future projects.

"The $5 million is not for future work - it's a one-time reimbursement to help offset costs the City has incurred on landslide stabilization efforts," city spokesperson Megan Barnes told Patch.

During fiscal year 2025-26, Rancho Palos Verdes incurred approximately $15 million in landslide-related expenses, Barnes said, equivalent to about 38 percent of the city's roughly $40 million annual General Fund operating budget.

The financial toll is expected to keep climbing. By June 2027, the city anticipates it will have spent approximately $75 million responding to the landslide since October 2022, according to Barnes.

Muratsuchi's official announcement said the allocation was added to the state budget and will help offset the city's FY 2025-26 expenditures.

566 Million Gallons Pumped From Landslide

The state funding comes as a massive groundwater-removal operation continues beneath the landslide complex.

Muratsuchi's announcement said the city's deep dewatering wells had extracted approximately 539 million gallons of groundwater since September 2024. Barnes provided Patch with a more recent figure Monday, saying the wells had removed approximately 566 million gallons as of last week.

The wells are designed to lower groundwater levels and reduce pressure within the landslide. The city has also carried out winterization work aimed at preventing stormwater from infiltrating the moving ground.

The latest available city survey data showed the landslide complex moving 56 percent slower in early May than it had one year earlier, despite a slightly above-average rainy season. Areas still moving within the active landslide boundary averaged 1.3 inches per week, while the Portuguese Bend Landslide was moving at 1.04 inches per week, according to a June city update.

The Greater Portuguese Bend Landslide Complex covers roughly 700 acres and accelerated dramatically following years of heavy rainfall, damaging homes and infrastructure and contributing to widespread utility shutoffs.

"The City of Rancho Palos Verdes is deeply grateful to Assemblymember Muratsuchi for adding this allocation to the state budget bill and for his attention to this issue going back to years before the 2023 acceleration," Mayor Paul Seo said.

"These funds will go a long way toward helping relieve some of the tremendous financial strain taken on by our small city and its residents in responding to the landslide emergency."

Separate From Earlier $5M County Package

The new $5 million state reimbursement is separate from an earlier $5 million landslide-relief package provided by Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn's office.

That county funding included $2.8 million for direct financial assistance to landslide-affected property owners and $2.2 million for the city's stabilization efforts, according to the city's Financial Assistance Grant Program.

The homeowner program offered grants of up to $10,000 for expenses including home repairs, temporary housing, supplies and costs associated with utility interruptions. By June 30, 2025, the city had distributed approximately $2.2 million through 223 completed and verified applications.

Rancho Palos Verdes is continuing to pursue significantly larger outside funding for long-term stabilization work. The city's grant tracker lists a pending $48.7 million FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program application for Greater Portuguese Bend landslide mitigation and a $20 million Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities application for a second phase of landslide mitigation.

The city is also awaiting federal funding connected to its voluntary property buyout program for homes threatened by the continuing land movement.