ITEM:		PRESENTATIONS
13.	PRESENTATION ON SAN CLEMENTE DAM SEISMIC RETROFIT FINAL EIR/EIS INCLUDING BYPASS ALTERNATIVE BY PAULA LANDIS, DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES AND TRISH CHAPMAN, CALIFORNIA COASTAL CONSERVANCY
Meeting Date:			February 28, 2008	Budgeted:	N/A
From:			David A. Berger,	Program/	N/A
			General Manager	Line Item No.:
Prepared By:			Larry Hampson	Cost Estimate:	N/A
General Counsel Approval: N/A
Committee Recommendation: N/A
CEQA Compliance: N/A

SUMMARY: Paula Landis, Chief of the San Joaquin District of the California Department of Water Resources (DWR), will give a presentation on the Final Environmental Impact Report /Environmental Impact Statement (Final EIR/EIS) for the San Clemente Dam Seismic Safety Project. Trish Chapman of the California Coastal Conservancy will give a presentation on the Carmel River Reroute and Dam Removal alternative (also known as the “bypass” alternative), which is one of five alternatives evaluated in the Final EIR/EIS to address the flood and seismic safety concerns about the dam. A copy of each presentation is posted on the MPWMD web site (see February 28, 2008 Agenda). The Introduction and Summary chapters from the Final EIR/EIS are available on the MPWMD web site at

http://www.mpwmd.dst.ca.us/asd/board/boardpacket/2008/20080228/13/SCDamFEIRS-Ch1-2.pdf.

BACKGROUND: Engineering and geological studies presented in a June 1981 report by the DWR’s Division of Safety of Dams (DSOD) concluded that additional investigations were needed to determine the safety of San Clemente Dam under conditions of Probable Maximum Flood (PMF) and Maximum Credible Earthquake (MCE), and directed remediation of the spillway gates. Subsequent studies found that San Clemente Dam could suffer structural damage leading to the potential loss of the reservoir during an MCE. In addition, under PMF conditions, water would overtop the dam, possibly eroding the right upper and downstream abutment areas and posing the risk of dam failure. Based on these findings, DSOD required that San Clemente Dam be brought into compliance to withstand loading from an MCE of 7.0 originating on the Tularcitos Fault (1.25 miles away) and to safely pass a PMF at the dam site of about 81,000 cubic feet per second.

California American Water (CAW) has filed a proposed design application with DSOD to strengthen the dam (also described as the “buttressing” alternative) to bring it into compliance with DSOD requirements.

The California Coastal Conservancy, in cooperation with the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Planning and Conservation League Foundation, and CAW, have completed investigations and preliminary designs for an alternative to buttressing the dam that involves re-routing the main stem of the Carmel River through the San Clemente Creek branch of the reservoir and removing the dam. District staff members Hampson and Urquhart participated on the California Coastal Conservancy-led technical review panel that provided input to bypass alternative feasibility engineering consulting studies recently completed. Ms. Chapman will highlight the outcome of those studies in her presentation.

DWR’s Final EIR/EIS, certified on December 31, 2007, includes evaluation of five project alternatives: Dam Strengthening (CAW’s proposed project); Dam Notching; Dam Removal; Carmel River Reroute and Dam Removal (California Coastal Conservancy’s proposed project; and No Project. DSOD is evaluating the reroute alternative and will make a decision about which project to move forward with in the next few months.

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