At its June 5 meeting in Sacramento, the Conservancy approved projects including steps toward removal of two obsolete dams; improvements to and expansions of the California Coastal Trail, San Francisco Bay Trail, and Bay Area Ridge Trail; as well as efforts to improve fish passage, remove invasive plants, and improve public access along the coast.

San Clemente Dam Removal
The San Clemente Dam, built in 1921 on the Carmel River, has outlasted its usefulness and become a safety hazard. Its original reservoir capacity of 1,425 acre-feet has been reduced to 125 acre-feet by sediment that has built up behind it. Studies have shown that the dam could fail during an extreme flood or earthquake. Studies have also found that the dam can be removed without major negative impacts on the landscape.

To help prepare final plans and permits for the project, the Conservancy authorized up to $6 million, half in Proposition 84 money and half from California American Water, which manages the dam, supplies water to the Monterey Peninsula, and is a key partner in the dam-removal project. The dam’s removal will not only resolve safety concerns, it will restore passage to more than 25 miles of steelhead spawning and rearing grounds.

Toward Matilija Dam Removal
The Matilija Dam Ecosystem Restoration Project continues to move forward, with dam removal scheduled for 2010. To help prepare downstream areas for the impacts of restored stream and sediment flows, the Conservancy approved $4.5 million in Proposition 50 funds to the Ventura County Watershed Protection District for two preconstruction projects.

About $3.5 million will be used to acquire the nine-acre Matilija Hot Springs property on the north bank just below the dam, for use as a staging area for the heavy construction work during dam removal. Afterwards, the site will be improved for public recreation, habitat, and open space. The rest of the Conservancy funds, about $1 million, will be used to design changes to two downstream bridges. The Camino Cielo Bridge is to be replaced with a new 150-foot long bridge, and the Santa Ana Boulevard Bridge is to be widened by adding another pier and bridge cell opening. With other funds, the District will remove invasive Arundo donax from 1,100 acres along the river and install two new wells downstream at Foster Park for the City of Ventura’s water supply, which may be affected by increased turbidity from restored sediment flow in the undammed river.

This is one of the largest dam removal projects in the country, and one of the largest ecosystem restoration projects ever undertaken by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers west of the Mississippi River.

Pulling back at Surfers Point
Ever since the Matilija Dam was built 60 years ago on the Ventura River, storm waves have been eating away the beach at Surfers Point, at the river mouth. Sediment that used to flow downriver and replenish the beach each summer has been held back by the dam. In some places, the land has eroded as much as 60 feet, damaging a bicycle path and parking lot. Now, in one of the state’s first "managed retreat" projects, the City of San Buenaventura (Ventura) will relocate the path and parking lot inland, then stabilize the shoreline by spreading cobblestones and covering them with sand and restoring native sand dune habitat. By moving the facilities inland, the City aims to maintain public access to Surfers Point even as sea levels rise. Eventually, as the Matilija Dam comes down (see item above) the natural processes that shrink and expand the beach seasonally should return.

The City will replace the old parking lot with two new lots: one paved with permeable recycled asphalt and the other, to be used primarily for overflow parking by the nearby county fairgrounds, with a grass-pave surface. Runoff from the lots will flow into bioswales along the edges of the lots, then through an underground stormwater treatment system before it enters the estuary. The funds will also enable the City to expand the picnic area at Surfers Point, add benches and bicycle parking spaces, and create a space for art installations and interpretive signs.

The Conservancy will contribute $1.5 million toward the total project cost of $7,056,000, and another $1.5 million will come from federal transportation funds, $500,000 (pending) from the Ocean Protection Council, and $172,500 from the City. Funding sources for the remaining $3,383,500 are yet to be determined.