DamNation producer Matt Stoecker gives an update on the fight to demolish the United States’ derelict dams and restore fish-friendly watersheds in a recent National Geographic article. Near the top of his list is Southern California’s Matilija Dam near Santa Barbara on a tributary to the Ventura River.
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).
Matilija Dam removal is on CalTrout’s radar as well. Our Southern California office is a member of the Matilija Coalition and assisted in the compilation of a Ventura County Watershed Protection District proposal. That proposal, submitted to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Prop 1 Watershed Restoration Grant Program, would provide funding for the first steps of dam removal planning and design. The project will manage headwaters for multiple benefits, protect and restore salmon and steelhead fish habitat, and protect and restore coastal wetland ecosystems.
Since its construction in 1947, the 168-foot-high, arched concrete Matilija Dam has blocked steelhead migration as well as the transport of nearly 8 million cubic yards of sediment, preventing it from naturally moving downstream to the ocean.
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Peter Moyle is the Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology and Associate Director of the Center for Watershed Sciences, at UC Davis. He is author or co-author of more than 240 publications, including the definitive Inland Fishes of California (2002). He is co-author of the 2017 book, Floodplains: Processes and Management for Ecosystem Services. His research interests include conservation of aquatic species, habitats, and ecosystems, including salmon; ecology of fishes of the San Francisco Estuary; ecology of California stream fishes; impact of introduced aquatic organisms; and use of floodplains by fish.
Robert Lusardi is the California Trout/UC Davis Wild and Coldwater Fish Researcher focused on establishing the basis for long-term science specific to California Trout’s wild and coldwater fish initiatives. His work bridges the widening gap between academic science and applied conservation policy, ensuring that rapidly developing science informs conservation projects throughout California. Dr. Lusardi resides at the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences and works closely with Dr. Peter Moyle on numerous projects to help inform California Trout conservation policy. His recent research interests include Coho salmon on the Shasta River, the ecology of volcanic spring-fed rivers, inland trout conservation and management, and policy implications of trap and haul programs for anadromous fishes in California.
Patrick Samuel is the Conservation Program Coordinator for California Trout, a position he has held for almost two years, where he coordinates special research projects for California Trout, including the State of the Salmonids report. Prior to joining CalTrout, he worked with the Fisheries Leadership & Sustainability Forum, a non-profit that supports the eight federal regional fishery management councils around the country. Patrick got his start in fisheries as an undergraduate intern with NOAA Fisheries Protected Resources Division in Sacramento, and in his first field job as a crew member of the California Department of Fish & Wildlife’s Wild and Heritage Trout Program.
3 Comments
For many years the dam on Malibu creek was on the Cal Trout radar – but the dam still stands. How about an effort to get the Malibu Creek dam demolished as once promised.
Yep, that’s what we need in a growing state with droughts in the foreseeable future and low snowpack from global warming: less water storage.
Dude. The dam is entirely filled with sediment. It contains zero water storage. Filled up almost entirely within 20 years.