More money sought for San Clemente Dam removal
4/18/2011
The Monterey Herald
04/18/2011
More help is on the way for removal of San Clemente Dam from the upper Carmel River.
The California Coastal Conservancy and Wildlife Conservation Board will consider approval of funds for the San Clemente Dam Removal project within the next six weeks, said Trish Chapman of the state Coastal Conservancy.
On May 19, the Coastal Conservancy will meet in Los Angeles to consider approving $4.5 million for the construction phase of the dam removal project. This, combined with $2.5million already committed to the design and permitting phase of the project will make the Conservancy's contribution $7 million so far.
On June 2 in Sacramento, the Wildlife Conservancy Board will consider approving $7 million for the construction phase of the dam removal project
Key objectives of the project, Chapman said, are:
· Remove San Clemente Dam and permanently resolve the public safety threat posed by the dam which has the potential to fail in either a maximum flood or maximum earthquake.
· Provide unimpaired access to 25 miles of spawning and rearing habitat for steelhead trout, a federally threatened species.
· Restore the river's ecological processes, including sediment transport to Carmel River State Beach, helping to maintain the beach's resiliency to sea level rise.
· Enhance habitat for the California red-legged frog, a federally-threatened species.
California American Water, which will pay approximately $49 million of the $84 million dam removal and river rerouting coat, will transfer 928 acres it owns to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management for permanent watershed conservation and compatible public access.
Cal Am's contribution was based on the amount it would have cost the company to buttress the dam rather than remove it, and the remaining money will come from federal, state and private sources. Under an agreement signed in January 2010, the Coastal Conservancy will contribute $34million.
Included in the project is rerouting of a half mile of the Carmel River into San Clemente Creek to create a permanent disposal area for sediments that have accumulated in the dam's reservoir. The half-mile of San Clemente Creek upstream of San Clemente Dam will be excavated and restored to enable passage by adult and juvenile steelhead, and provide riparian and aquatic habitat for a variety of species. As the last step, San Clemente Dam will be removed.
Work is expected to begin in 2013 and be completed in 2016.
San Clemente Dam was built in 1921 and designed to hold about 1,400 acre-feet of water, but years of silt buildup have reduced its capacity to about 125 acre-feet.
In the early 1990s, the state Department of Water Resources' Division of Dam Safety declared the structure unsafe. Officials say the dam could collapse in a magnitude-5.5 earthquake on the Tularcitos Fault, which the dam straddles, or in a magnitude-7 or greater earthquake on the San Andreas Fault.
An environmental impact report issued in 2007 by the state Department of Water Resources and the Army Corps of Engineers evaluated five options to bring the dam into compliance with current standards, including reinforcing the dam by buttressing it with added concrete.
