Supervisors OK Study of Matilija Dam Removal

Taking the first step in dismantling the 145-foot-tall Matilija Dam, Ventura County supervisors Tuesday authorized a federal agency to study how the aging structure can be removed.

Engineers are expected to begin examining the feasibility of removing the concrete wall and clearing out the tons of sediment trapped behind it as early as July 1.

“It’s a significant, big first step,” Supervisor John Flynn said. “It takes all the talk we’ve done about this for the past several months and puts it into action.”

The study will be conducted by the federal Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation, whose engineers will investigate whether the proposal makes environmental and economic sense.

The initial part of the study is expected to cost the agency at least $65,000 and take four to six months, said the bureau’s regional manager, Bill Luce, who is based in Fresno.

Because of a federal push to eliminate unneeded dams throughout the nation, the agency would pay for the study, even though the dam is owned by the Ventura County Flood Control District.

“The secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior [Bruce Babbitt] has gone on record expressing interest in removing dams that have outlived their purpose,” said Luce, who characterized the study as a “broad-brush, fatal-flaw analysis.”

“It’s a very preliminary look at the proposed project,” Luce said. “If we found through the study that it would cost $350 million to remove it, that would be a fatal flaw. If we found that removing the dam would cause environmental damage, that would be considered a fatal flaw.”

Supervisors on Tuesday also adopted a resolution officially supporting the removal of the 51-year-old dam, setting the stage for financial assistance from federal and state agencies.

In an assertion supported by Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley), supervisors believe the dam should be knocked down to save fish and restore the sand flow to the coast.

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Built in 1948 to prevent floods and store water for farmers and residents in the Ojai Valley, the dam today is nearly filled to capacity with mud and is widely viewed as obsolete.

It holds little water and acts as a massive barrier to endangered southern steelhead trout attempting to reach 20 miles of prime spawning stream in Matilija Creek.

In January, Gallegly called on the Army Corps of Engineers to begin an in-depth dam-removal study. While officials from that agency await funding approval by Congress, the Bureau of Reclamation decided to get involved with the Matilija Dam removal. The Army Corps may end up working with the Bureau on the project, Luce said.

“We’re very interested in not getting in the way” of the Army Corps, Luce said. “We’ve talked to both Congressman Gallegly’s office and the corps’ office to make sure that wasn’t the case.”

It is expected that the dam and sediment removal would most likely cost about $75 million, officials said.

The original water capacity of Matilija Dam, situated on Los Padres National Forest land, was 7,000 acre-feet. Sediment from the steep mountain slopes has reduced the water capacity to 500 acre-feet. One acre-foot is 326,000 gallons, enough to serve two average-sized families for one year.

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Flynn and other supervisors said they were elated that the first of a long string of dam-removal studies--perhaps 15 years’ worth before the wall could come down--will be conducted.

“It’s almost like a miracle that [the bureau] called me out of the blue,” Flynn said. “This is something that will draw the interest of people all around the United States. It’s just a major event and an exciting adventure we’ve begun.”