PACIFIC GROVE, Calif. - California American Water announced that with help from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the California State Coastal Conservancy, it will resume engineering and planning work on a dam removal project halted earlier this year.
The dam removal project involves rerouting the Carmel River to bypass silt accumulated behind the dam and would be the first of its kind in the state of California.
In 1991, the California Department of Water Resources, Division of Safety of Dams agreed with a California American Water consultant's assertion that San Clemente Dam in Monterey County was inadequate for seismic stability and flood safety. The dam, located on the Carmel River, eighteen miles upstream from the Pacific Ocean, was built in 1921.
After years of study, the Department of Water Resources and Army Corps of Engineers issued an Environmental Impact Report in December 2007, which evaluated five options to bring the dam to current standards. One option involved strengthening the dam by adding a concrete buttress. Another option was removal of the dam, with a plan to reroute the river around the silt that had accumulated behind it.
The removal project, while more expensive, was favored by environmental groups and public agencies concerned with protection and enhancement of the Carmel River ecosystem.
For several years, California American Water worked with NOAA Fisheries and the California State Coastal Conservancy to develop strategies to implement the dam removal project while minimizing cost and risk to its ratepayers. California American Water committed $50 million - the cost of the strengthening project - and the dedication of 928 acres where the dam is located as parkland.
The Coastal Conservancy and NOAA committed to raise the additional $35 million needed for the removal project through a combination of public funding and private donations. The effort fell apart in February 2009, when the company announced it had been unable to identify an entity willing to accept future ownership of the dam site and liability for the removal project.
