After two decades of negotiations, stakeholders are designing the final demolition plans and raising bridges downstream to clear the future water level. The free-flowing river should replenish sand-starved coastlines and bring back traditional steelhead spawning grounds (the dam’s original design didn’t include fish passage). Photo of Matililja Dam, Ventura River, California Mike Wier CalTrout.org.
Dams are not America’s answer to the pyramids of Egypt. We did not build them for religious purposes and they do not consecrate our values… Dams do, in fact, outlive their function. When they do, some should go.” – Former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt
[dropcap]C[/dropcap]alifornia has thousands of dams, from small earthen barriers to large dams hundreds of feet tall. More than 1,400 of those dams are large enough to fall under state safety regulations. A great number of them provide critical water supply, flood control, and hydroelectric power. But many have outlived their functional lifespan and the ecosystem and economic benefits of removal far outweigh the cost of leaving them in place.
Top 5 California DAMS OUT
CalTrout’s Top 5 California DAMS OUT Report highlights five dams that are ripe for removal and that must, for the health of the ecosystem and communities around them, come out.
The Reconnect Habitat Initiative
Reconnecting Habitat is one of CalTrout’s key initiatives in its effort to return native fish to resilience. Removing barriers to fish passage and getting obsolete dams out are the key objectives. To learn more about the initiative, click here . . .
