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Reports & Documents

The paper trail of the landslide — official reports, monitoring data, project documents, federal analyses, and the scientific literature — organized in one library.

Official City of Rancho Palos Verdes

  • Land Movement Updates
    The City's central landslide page: current status, survey summaries, program news, and utility links. The single most important official source. Older entries move off this page to the City's 2026 Community Updates Archive.
  • Landslide Surveys and Mapping
    The raw monitoring products, listed by month with the newest first: GPS survey reports, displacement-rate contour maps, and the full GPS survey dataset (September 2007 to the present, as an Excel file). As of Nov. 5, 2026, the newest items posted are the October 2026 products: a contour map for the Oct. 6, 2026 survey (PDF, 2.3 MB; by Cotton, Shires and Associates, dated Oct. 22), which shows inches-per-week rates at individual monitoring points for Sept. 3 to Oct. 6; the surveyor's October 2026 GPS survey report (PDF, 1.1 MB, 27 pages; movement since the Sept. 3 survey); and the GPS dataset (Excel) updated through October 2026. The September contour map and report are still listed. We could not establish when the October files were posted. In the City's early-October survey (reported Oct. 28, 2026; 2026 Community Updates Archive, Oct. 28 entry), areas still moving inside the active landslide boundary averaged 1.05 inches per week, up 7.6% since the early-August survey; the Portuguese Bend Landslide averaged 0.88 and the Abalone Cove Landslide 1.36, and Klondike Canyon generally showed no measurable movement. For the September survey the City has given only percentage changes, not per-area rates. See Maps & Data.
  • Landslide Management Program
    Background on the City's long-running management of the Portuguese Bend landslide, including the moratorium area and monitoring program.
  • Portuguese Bend Landslide Remediation Project
    The stabilization project: project description, environmental review documents, and the EIR. In 2023 the City estimated the project at about $33M, and FEMA selected it for a $23.3M BRIC grant in August 2023. That grant was never paid; it was caught in FEMA's April 2025 nationwide BRIC cancellation, which a federal judge ruled unlawful in December 2025, so its status is unresolved. The City's FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) application for the project, submitted in September 2025, now totals $48.7M (originally $40M); a 25% local match is required, and the City has committed $12.1M toward it. A new ~$20M BRIC application (June 2026) is also pending. See the funding table.
  • Landslide Complex Working Group notes
    Notes from the working group of City staff, ACLAD and KCLAD board members, homeowners associations, utilities and members of the public. Since January 2026 it has met monthly (third Wednesday, 3 p.m., on Microsoft Teams; request the Teams link through the City's Working Group page, linked above), so the notes are a monthly operational record. For week-to-week detail, see the City Manager's Weekly Administrative Report below. Meeting details: Meetings.
  • Voluntary Property Buyout Program
    Official program page: eligibility, process, funding rounds, and status of the FEMA/Cal OES-funded home purchases. Its Oct. 14, 2026 update, still the newest when checked Nov. 6, 2026, announces the formal award of the Round 1 and Round 2 grants (see the funding table).
  • Tax Relief and Insurance Resources
    The City's guide to property tax reassessment, Misfortune & Calamity relief, and insurance considerations for affected owners.
  • Landslide Area Development Regulations
    Ordinance 692 (2025) and related rules: the permanent prohibition on new residential construction in the complex, what repairs and replacements remain allowed, and the updated boundary.
  • Palos Verdes Peninsula Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan (2026)
    The peninsula's first four-city hazard mitigation plan (RPV, PVE, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates, plus ACLAD and KCLAD), FEMA-approved June 2026 — hazard assessments including landslides, mitigation strategies, and the grant-eligibility foundation for FEMA mitigation funding. Documents via PVPready.gov.
  • Grant Tracker
    The City's running ledger of landslide-related grant applications and awards for the buyout, remediation, and mitigation funding requests. It can lag the City's announcements: on Oct. 23, 2026 it still listed the Round 1 and Round 2 buyout grants as "Selected" and "Selected from waitlist," although the City announced their formal award on Oct. 14. When checked Oct. 29, 2026, it listed both as "Awarded" and had new rows for the PV Drive South PROTECT application ($3 million, "Applied") and the $5 million state budget allocation ("Awarded"). It still listed the BRIC 2022 grant as "Selected" and the $48.7M HMGP remediation application as "Applied," and it had no row for the well-power grant. It was unchanged when we checked it again on Nov. 1, Nov. 5 and Nov. 6, 2026.
  • City Manager's Weekly Administrative Report
    A weekly report from City Hall. Its Public Works section usually has the most detailed operational status for the landslide area: dewatering totals, well outages and redrills, and winterization progress by canyon. Example: Report No. 26-44 (Nov. 5, 2026), a large PDF with highlights of the Nov. 4 Council meeting on pages 4–5, the dewatering and winterization items on page 24, and the Council's tentative agendas on pages 51–54; its inside page headers misprint the date as Oct. 28, 2026, so go by the report number and cover date. New reports come out weekly on the City's website.
  • City Council agendas, staff reports & video
    Staff reports attached to landslide agenda items are often the best single written source for budgets, engineering detail, and program status.

Landslide Funding at a Glance

Every major grant and appropriation tied to the landslide response in one place, from the City's official Grant Tracker plus recent announcements. "Selected" means FEMA has chosen the project, but the City can't spend the money until FEMA formally awards it. "Awarded" does not mean paid: federal grants work on a reimbursement basis. Statuses are as of October 29, 2026, unless a later date is given; the City's Grant Tracker was unchanged when we checked it again on November 1, November 5 and November 6, 2026. The notes below the table give the sources and dates.

Source / programAmountPurposeStatus
FEMA HMGP: Remediation project$48.7M application total (was $40M)Stabilize the Greater Portuguese Bend complex; 25% local match required, $12.1M City match committedApplied Sept. 2025 · pending; the Grant Tracker lists it as "Applied" (checked Oct. 29, 2026), while the staff report for the Nov. 4, 2026 Council meeting (Table 7) lists the HMGP 2025 remediation grant, $36,539,371 of a $48,719,185 total, as "Waitlisted"; its Table 6 describes the HMGP construction grant (DR-4856-CA) as advancing through FEMA's environmental and grant review
FEMA HMGP: Buyout Round 1$42M at selectionAcquire 22 homesFormally awarded (City, Oct. 14, 2026): over $54 million for Rounds 1–2 combined (see note below) · selected Oct. 2024; no purchases reported as of Nov. 6, 2026; the City expects buyouts to start in the coming months, a few homes at a time · approved by the Council Nov. 4, 2026, according to the City's video update posted Nov. 5, in which the City Manager says the Council approved nearly $56 million in federal grant funding, including more than $54 million for the voluntary buyout of 27 properties; staff had recommended formally accepting $43,246,655 for Round 1 ($42,000,000 to acquire 22 properties plus $1,246,655 for management costs)
FEMA HMGP: Buyout Round 2$10.16M at selectionAcquire 5 homesFormally awarded (City, Oct. 14, 2026): over $54 million for Rounds 1–2 combined (see note below) · selected from the waitlist Feb. 2026 · approved by the Council Nov. 4, 2026, according to the City's video update posted Nov. 5 (see the Round 1 row); staff had recommended formally accepting $10,778,243 for Round 2 ($10,145,417 to acquire 5 properties plus $632,826 for management costs)
FEMA HMGP: Buyout Round 3$19MAcquire ~8 more homesWaitlisted (City, Oct. 14, 2026; repeated in the staff report for the Nov. 4, 2026 Council meeting, p. 37) · applied Feb. 2026; the Grant Tracker lists it as "Applied" (checked Oct. 29, 2026)
FEMA BRIC (FY22)$23.3MRemediation (Phase 2)Unresolved: applied Jan. 2023; selected Aug. 2023; never paid; caught in FEMA's 2025 BRIC cancellation, which a court ruled unlawful Dec. 2025 · the City's Oct. 7, 2026 letter to Cal OES describes it as awarded in 2023 and says the City has submitted a scope-of-work change and a time-extension request to FEMA; the Grant Tracker still listed it as "Selected" when checked Oct. 29, 2026, while the staff report for the Nov. 4, 2026 Council meeting (Table 7) lists it as "Awarded / Pending Re-Scope Approval" · design and permitting amendments for this project and the FY25 project (Geo-Logic Associates, +$2,900,000; LSA Associates, +$150,937), paid from the City's capital fund, were on the Council's Nov. 4 agenda. Patch reported on Nov. 6 that the vote on the buyout and well-power grants was 5-0 and that the Council also approved the Geo-Logic Associates (+$2.9 million) and LSA Associates (+$150,937) amendments; the City's video update and its Nov. 5 weekly report do not mention a vote count or the amendments, and the minutes had not been posted as of Nov. 6, 2026.
FEMA BRIC (FY25)$20MRemediation (Phase 2)Applied June 2026 · pending; "Submitted to FEMA" in the staff report for the Nov. 4, 2026 Council meeting (Table 7) · design and permitting amendments on the Nov. 4 agenda: Patch reported on Nov. 6 that the Council approved them; the City's video update and Nov. 5 weekly report do not mention them (see the FY22 row)
Congressional project funding (FY26)$2.29M as announced ($1,145,144 each); City documents for the Oct. 20, 2026 Council meeting listed about $1.12M federal each, based on FEMA's website; the staff report for the Nov. 4, 2026 meeting (Table 7) lists $1,145,144 eachAnnounced for ACLAD drainage + KCLAD wells (split evenly). In June 2026 both districts assigned the grants to the City and agreed in writing that the money be used to design its remediation project (BRIC 2022 Phase 2, West and East)Funded by Congress (announced May 2026) · pending: FEMA's June 22, 2026 release required applications before any award, and the City's Oct. 7, 2026 letter to Cal OES lists these grants as "applied for and … pending allocation"; Table 7 of the staff report for the Nov. 4, 2026 Council meeting lists each as "In FEMA Review (Pending Award)"; no report of payment found
FEMA Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM): permanent power for the dewatering wellsOver $1.9M; requires a $646,500 local match (City, Oct. 14, 2026). The staff report for the Nov. 4, 2026 Council meeting gives $1,939,564, with a $646,521 match, for a $2,586,085 projectInstall infrastructure for a permanent power source for the City's deep dewatering wells at the toe of the Portuguese Bend Landslide; per the staff report for the Nov. 4 meeting, five existing wells would be connected to the utility grid in place of temporary generators. The City says it spends about $53,000 a month to rent and fuel the generators that run the wells. The money traces to Congressionally Directed Spending secured by the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein in 2022; the scope was later revised to avoid overlap with other federal grantsAwarded (announced Oct. 14, 2026; the staff report for the Nov. 4 meeting says FEMA approved it Sept. 25, 2026) · the work must be finished by Sept. 29, 2027 unless extended · approved by the Council Nov. 4, 2026, according to the City's video update posted Nov. 5, in which the City Manager says the Council approved $1.9 million for permanent power to the deep dewatering wells; the Grant Tracker had no row for it when checked Oct. 29, Nov. 5 and Nov. 6, 2026
Congressional requests (FY27)$2.275M + $2.25M + $2.5MACLAD, KCLAD, storm drain improvementsRequested Mar. 2026
FHWA PROTECT grant: PV Drive South$3MDesign of the Palos Verdes Drive South Reconstruction Project, which would reconstruct and realign a two-mile stretch damaged by land movement; no local match for design. The City estimates the overall project at $28M including construction and is seeking other fundingApplied Oct. 2026, before the Oct. 9 federal deadline (the Council had authorized applying for up to $10M on Oct. 6) · federal awards expected the week of Dec. 7, 2026 · "Applied" on the Grant Tracker (checked Oct. 29, 2026); "Submitted to DOT" in the staff report for the Nov. 4, 2026 Council meeting (Table 7)
State of California$5MState budget allocation. Assemblymember Muratsuchi's release says it supports ongoing landslide mitigation and El Niño preparation and helps offset about $15M of FY 2025–26 costs; the City told Patch it is for future landslide remediation efforts.Awarded Sept. 2026 (announced Sept. 21; listed as "Awarded" on the Grant Tracker when checked Oct. 29, 2026) · staff are working with the State Water Resources Control Board to determine whether the Geo-Logic Associates design costs proposed for Nov. 4 are eligible for reimbursement from this money (staff report for the Nov. 4 meeting, p. 2) · Patch reported on Nov. 6 that the Council approved the Geo-Logic Associates amendment; the City's video update and Nov. 5 weekly report do not mention it (see the BRIC FY22 row)
L.A. County Sanitation Districts$4MLandslide remediationAwarded Sept. 2025
L.A. County Flood Control District$2M (of $6M requested)Landslide assistanceAwarded Oct. 2024
L.A. County Supervisor Hahn$5MLandslide reliefAwarded May 2024

For scale: the City's Measure RS page says the City "will have spent approximately $75,000,000 of its own funds" on the landslide response over three and a half years by June 2027, and the City's Oct. 20, 2026 Council staff report on the landslide emergency puts the complex's total estimated cost from 2022 through June 30, 2027 at $74.8 million, funded from multiple sources, including City funds and federal grants. Assemblymember Muratsuchi's release cites about $15M of FY 2025–26 costs; the same staff report puts draft FY 2025–26 year-end landslide spending at about $12.9M, against a revised budget of $17.9M. A FEMA public notice the City posted on July 2, 2026 (still in the City's News Flash archive) says the City "proposes to acquire and demolish 45 residential properties within the Portuguese Bend, Seaview, and Portuguese Bend Beach Club neighborhoods." The notice, required under federal floodplain and wetland rules (Executive Orders 11988 and 11990), says FEMA intends to provide federal financial assistance for a group of projects; it is not a funding award. On September 29, 2026, FEMA announced the approval of more than $54 million to the City "for the acquisition and demolition of 27 residential properties critically affected by the Greater Portuguese Bend Landslide" (release R9-NR-26-36). On October 14, 2026, the City announced that it "has been formally awarded over $54 million" in FEMA grants for buyout Rounds 1 and 2, covering 22 homes and 5 homes (27 pre-selected properties); it says the awards followed a federal regulatory review period. The two rounds had been selected at $42M (October 2024) and $10.16M (February 2026), $52.16M combined. The staff report for the Nov. 4, 2026 Council meeting gives the award as $54,024,898: $42,000,000 plus $1,246,655 in subrecipient management costs for Round 1, and $10,145,417 plus $632,826 for Round 2. Staff recommended that the Council formally accept it on Nov. 4, together with the $1,939,564 well-power grant ($55,964,462 in all). In the City's RPVtv video update posted Nov. 5, 2026, City Manager Ara Mihranian says the Council approved nearly $56 million in federal grant funding on Nov. 4: more than $54 million for the voluntary buyout of 27 red- and yellow-tagged properties and $1.9 million for permanent power to the deep dewatering wells. Patch reported on Nov. 6 that the vote on the grants was 5-0 and that the Council also approved the Geo-Logic Associates (+$2.9 million) and LSA Associates (+$150,937) amendments; the City's video update and its Nov. 5 weekly report do not mention a vote count or the amendments, and the minutes had not been posted as of Nov. 6, 2026. Because federal grants work on a reimbursement basis, the City says it will buy homes in groups of a few at a time, expected to start in the coming months, and that acquiring all 27 properties and demolishing the homes and other improvements will likely take a few years. No purchase had been reported as of November 6, 2026 (City buyout page; staff report for the Nov. 4 meeting, p. 37; Weekly Report No. 26-44, p. 5). The City's presentation at the Nov. 4 meeting says an orientation meeting for the pre-selected Round 1 properties was held Oct. 29, 2026 (slide 20). The City's $19M Round 3 application (about 8 more homes) remains waitlisted. The City's July 9, 2026 program update, which said it could not buy homes until FEMA formally awarded both grants, is now in its 2026 Community Updates Archive. See For Residents, our Oct. 14 entry, our Sept. 29 entry and our July 2026 entry. Statuses reflect the City's October 14, 2026 announcements (buyout page and Weekly Report No. 26-41), the staff report for the Nov. 4, 2026 Council meeting (grant amounts and Table 7, pp. 1–2 and 37–38), the City's Oct. 20, 2026 Council staff report on landslide emergency work (Consent Item G, posted Oct. 13, with the City's Oct. 7 letter to Cal OES attached), FEMA's September 29, 2026 release, the City's Nov. 5, 2026 video update on the Nov. 4 meeting, news through October 8, 2026, Patch's Nov. 6, 2026 report on the Nov. 4 meeting (the vote count and the design and permitting amendments), and the Grant Tracker (when checked October 29, 2026, its newest entry was dated October 2026; it listed the Round 1 and Round 2 buyout grants as "Awarded," which on Oct. 23 had still read "Selected" and "Selected from waitlist," and it had no row for the well-power grant; its only well-power row is a separate $2.1 million FY 26 earmark request, listed as "Not selected"); verify current status with the City. Next check: the Nov. 4 minutes, for the formal record of the votes, including on the design and permitting amendments; the City's next weekly report (due Thursday, Nov. 12); and the City's buyout page, for the first purchases.

Sources: City Grant Tracker (checked Oct. 29, Nov. 1, Nov. 5 and Nov. 6, 2026) · City buyout page (Oct. 14, 2026 update; checked Nov. 5 and Nov. 6, 2026) · staff report for the Nov. 4, 2026 Council meeting, Regular Business Item 3, a large PDF (grant amounts on pp. 1–2 and 37–38, Table 7 on p. 38, design amendments on pp. 1–2 and 39–40) · City Manager's Weekly Administrative Report No. 26-44 (Nov. 5, 2026), a large PDF, pp. 5–6: Nov. 4 meeting highlights and next report date · City Public Works presentation, Nov. 4, 2026 Council meeting, Item 3 (PDF), slide 20: buyout orientation meeting · RPVtv City Council Update, Nov. 4, 2026 (City video, posted Nov. 5): the Council's Nov. 4 approval of the grant funding · Nov. 4, 2026 meeting video and index (no minutes posted as of Nov. 6, 2026) · City Manager's Weekly Administrative Report No. 26-41 (Oct. 14, 2026), pp. 5–7: buyout award, well-power grant and PROTECT application · Oct. 20, 2026 Council staff report, Consent Item G (FY26 grants, BRIC 2022, cost figures; includes the City's Oct. 7, 2026 letter to Cal OES) · City 2026 Community Updates Archive (July 9, 2026 buyout update) · FEMA release R9-NR-26-36 (Sept. 29, 2026): buyout approval · FEMA release R9-NR-26-17 (June 22, 2026): FY2026 Pre-Disaster Mitigation funds · FHWA PROTECT funding notice (FHWA-PROT-26-001) · City Measure RS page · City (Aug. 29, 2023): BRIC selection · Assemblymember Muratsuchi (Sept. 21, 2026) · Patch (Sept. 22, 2026) · Patch (Nov. 6, 2026): vote count and approval of the design and permitting amendments (coverage; not in the City's own reports as of Nov. 6) · City News Flash: FEMA public notice (July 2, 2026) · FEMA notice (PDF)

Federal & State

Science & Research

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Local outlets have covered the landslide continuously. These searches/tags surface their full archives:

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