The owner of San Clemente Dam on the Carmel River just announced that the company is back on track to work with others to remove the 106 foot-tall obsolete and seismically unsafe dam.

For five years, PCL Foundation’s Monica Hunter and PCL’s Jonas Minton have been working with Cal-Am Water Company, the State Coastal Conservancy, National Marine Fisheries Service, Carmel River Steelhead Association, and others to remove this barrier to fish migration on the central coast’s most important steelhead river.   Earlier this year the project hit a snag over the question of who would assume long-term responsibility for the project site.

Last Friday, Cal Am’s new president Rob McLean stated that while project liability remains an issue, “with the help of environmental groups and elected representatives on the local, state and national level, whose support for the removal project is nearly unanimous, we are hopeful the liability issues can be resolved.”

This enlightened approach will minimize rate impacts to the water users and lead to the restoration of an incredible ecosystem in the heart of the Monterey region.