San Clemente Dam Removal and River Restoration Moves Ahead

Last Thursday, the California Coastal Conservancy approved a grant of $4,500,000 to the Ocean Protection Council to fund implementation of the San Clemente Dam Removal Project in Monterey County. Sedimentation of this dam has rendered it useless as a source of water supply. In addition it has major safety deficiencies and is a significant barrier to the upstream and downstream migration of threatened steelhead. This is a significant piece of the public funding and will combine with the major share of the funding for this project. Those funds will come from those who have benefited from the dam when it was functional.