Carmel River dam removal

[Randy B]

Not sure if news about the removal of the San Clemente Dam on the Lower Carmel River is really news to anyone. The news release made it sound like it is being done more for liability reasons than habitat reasons, but it still seems like a step in the right direction for habitat restoration.

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories...amremoval.html

[Darian]

WOW!!!! 2.5 million yards of sediment going down stream from the dam site. Wonder how long it'll take to flush that out

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Dams coming down now...................yahoo.

It might take some years for the river to repair themselves but it is a start in the right direction.

[Flycanoe]

The river will be routed around the dam and the sediment left in place and locked there by a rock wall.

[Ned Morris]

What happens when you get the 10, 50 , or 100 year flood in the next few years? Could be a big problem.

The river will be routed around the dam and the sediment left in place and locked there by a rock wall.

[Darian]

Hmmm,.... "...routed around the dam." OK, lets think about how this has to occur.... The reservoir will be drawn down to minimum pool. That should create/expose the original stream bed. If I'm understanding this correctly, the rock wall mentioned will be constructed where the dam now stands. The river would be re-routed around the existing dam and back to the original stream bed to allow fish passage. Seems that the rock wall required to hold back the sediment could be as high as the original dam. And, re-routing the river around the dam might create a very steep cascade down to the original stream bed, making fish passage difficult.

Wonder if the rock wall will be constructed on either side of the existing stream bed when it's scoured by lowering the lake level during removal of the dam....

So, it seems that there's more to this than meets the eye (unless re-routing the river is a temporary fix....)

[Flycanoe]

Here's the link with a few more details about the project.

http://www.mercurynews.com/search/ci_14168415

[Darian]

Thanks for the link. Interesting project. After seeing the photo in the article, I can now understand how re-routing is possible. The river doesn't appear to run thru a steep, rocky canyon in that area and the dams position (angled) on the river bed makes re-routing a decent choice. I guess the article couldn't address everything in the space alloted.... Still, I'll be following the progress on this one.

[Mike O]

What happens when you get the 10, 50 , or 100 year flood in the next few years? Could be a big problem.

wouldn't that also blow the sediment out at the same time?

[Darian]

Does kinda seem like a disaster waiting to happen.... But, smarter people than I are working on this.... Hopefully, all the preparations are adequate.