Water Agency Has Concerns About Report

Demolition of Matilija Dam near Ojai could reduce water supplies for some customers, while harming efforts to rescue the endangered steelhead trout, said local water agency officials who are concerned that these issues are not addressed in the project’s environmental impact report.

The report released this month outlines the environmental challenges and benefits posed by the $130-million project, which supporters say will ultimately help restore the Ventura River to its natural state, replenish sand-starved beaches and revive a historic breeding area for the threatened steelhead.

But officials with Casitas Municipal Water District said the short-term effects of the three-year project are not adequately covered in the new study. The district, under a long-term contract with Ventura County, serves about 200 customers with water collected at the dam.

Without that water, the district could be forced to buy supplies from other sources, resulting in higher rates for customers, officials said. These and other issues were scheduled to be the focus of a public hearing Monday night at the district’s headquarters in Oak View.

Before the hearing, John Johnson, the water district’s general manager, said the environmental study also fails to provide specific ways to protect steelhead trout during the roughly three years it will take to remove the 190-foot-high structure, among the largest dam removal projects in the nation’s history.

While dismantling the dam is expected to improve the Ventura River’s ecosystem in the long run, the report acknowledges that fish and other wildlife along the river’s 17-mile-long watershed would suffer temporarily.

Johnson said releasing the 6 million cubic yards of sediment trapped behind the nearly full dam will widen and flatten the riverbed, reducing the chance that enough water will flow through the river to enable steelhead to spawn. And the spaces amid the gravel on the river bottom, where steelhead lay eggs, will disappear under all that silt, he added.

But supporters of the dam project said that to do nothing would end up doing more harm to the river’s ecosystem.

“The short-term adversity is far outweighed by the long-term good of removing that dam,” said Jim Edmondson of California Trout, a nonprofit group dedicated to protecting the state’s cold-water fish.

Ventura County Supervisor Steve Bennett, whose district includes the dam area, said the involvement of several state and federal fish and wildlife agencies during the environmental process ensures the ecosystem is properly protected.

“I’m confident these top scientists working on this are ensuring that nothing is done to diminish the supply or quality of the water,” he said.

Johnson suggests that the county conduct comprehensive tests to identify potential contaminants in the sediment before they are released downstream. He also wants guarantees that the district will not lose a portion of its water supply once the dam is removed.

“How they will supply those customers without a water supply I do not know,” said Johnson, whose district serves about 75,000 customers in the Ventura and Ojai areas combined. “And the [environmental impact report] doesn’t address it.”

Jeff Pratt, director of the Ventura County Watershed Protection District, which owns the dam, said Casitas was among the numerous agencies that jointly discussed the dam removal proposal before the environmental document was drafted and that its comments -- along with the district’s responses -- will be included in the final report.

“Do we have all the definitive answers right now? No, but we’re getting very close,” Pratt said. “I can guarantee you, the politicians are not going to threaten the water supply in Southern California. That’s just not an option.”

The 56-year-old dam has about 5% of its original capacity left and can hold less than 500 acre-feet of water. An acre-foot is nearly 326,000 gallons, or enough water to supply two typical homes for a year.

Bennett said Casitas customers must deal with the sediment problem sooner or later and that acting now could mean financial help from Washington. If the review process concludes by year’s end, the project would qualify for nearly $79 million in federal funds toward the demolition and restoration project.

The Army Corps of Engineers and the Watershed Protection District will have a public hearing on the project at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Ventura County Government Center.