SMC Geography Students Aim to Aid Canyon Preparedness

By Laurel Busby

News & Information Editor

Twelve Santa Monica College geography students gathered at Gallery 169 on Saturday to learn how they might be able to help the Canyon using their newfound mapping skills.

First, they, along with their teacher, Prof. Jing Liu, learned about Rustic and Santa Monica Canyon’s unique geography and challenges, including its flood channels, winding terrain, and fire dangers from Doug Suisman, the director of The Canyon Alliance, who gave them a walking tour and also presented an array of maps and photos from the Back to the Canyon Exhibit.

During the fire, “the canyon geography was really a problem,” said Suisman, noting that confusing street names like East Channel, West Channel, East Rustic, and West Rustic plus oddities of the layout of streets and some homes at times puzzled firefighters. “if you had to describe to a first responder where something was or what the terrain was, we didn’t have any means except words to describe it, and words turned out to be a really poor substitute for maps.”

Another problem stemmed from confusion in both residents and first responders about the fact that the Canyon is part of Los Angeles, not Santa Monica, Suisman said. One big reason for the misunderstanding is that the U.S. Postal Service positions most of the Canyon within the 90402 zip code and labels the area Santa Monica for mailing purposes. So, after writing down their address for years as Santa Monica, it’s no wonder that many residents think they live in that city, not Los Angeles.

Unfortunately, in an emergency, when residents sometimes call Santa Monica’s police or fire departments instead of the Los Angeles ones, the issue veers from confusing to dangerous, Suisman said.

“People don’t know where they live, and that’s a geographic issue,” he said. “We really need to clarify this.”

He shared The Canyon Alliance’s vision for improving the area’s emergency preparedness through secure maps that show the topography, structures, and citizenry, so that the neighborhood associations and first responders could more quickly and easily reach particular homes and residents.

Of course, the security of that information is also vital, and Suisman said that ensuring that was a central task.

Before the meeting, student Jason Runnels created a clickable three-dimensional map using public information.

“It shows the topography of the canyon and all of the parcel shapes overlayed on it,” Runnels said. “All the structures are three-dimensional as well. You can click on each one to get the address, height, and age of the buildings.”

To enhance the map, Suisman and Runnels suggested that pools could be added along with information on the couplings needed for each pool pump to create an added resource for firefighting.

In addition, the map could show where disabled residents live or people without cellphones, and the students brainstormed ways it might also be enhanced to help other vulnerable populations in the community.

In January, “the Canyon was just saved by a combination of luck and heroism,” Suisman said. “We were still impacted heavily…. It came so close…. It was nipping at our heels.”

Santa Monica College Prof. JIng LIu (standing second from left) with The Canyon Alliance Director Doug Suisman and her geography students.