How Dam Removal Can Help the Climate Crisis: Spotlight on Nonprofit California Trout’s “Dam’s Out” Initiative
Figure 1: Drone view of Rindge Dam located three miles upstream from the Pacific Ocean. The 100-foot-tall dam was decommissioned in 1967 and incorporated into Malibu Creek State Park in 1976 as part of a land purchase. Photo: Caltrout
Why Dam’s Out?
California has thousands of public and private dams, from small earthen barriers to large reservoirs hundreds of feet tall. More than 1,400 of those dams are large enough to fall under state safety regulations. Many dams provide critical water supply, flood control, and hydroelectric power, but many others have outlived their functional lifespans.
Environmental research performed by UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences indicates that the environmental costs of dams are high. They include degraded watershed health, harmed fish populations, threatened public safety, and an overall degrading of complete ecosystems which hold cultural importance for many.
The environmental and economic benefits of removing dams, particularly obsolete ones, are seen as outweighing the cost of leaving them in place. For example, the diminishing and potential losses of anadromous salmon and steelhead populations. For the second year in a row, all commercial and recreational salmon fishing in California was closed to allow salmon populations to recover. Salmon’s cousin, the southern California steelhead, have been on the federally endangered list since 1997, but they are not recovering. On April 18, they were added to the California endangered species list for additional protection. (CESA)
Figure 2: Visualization of the dam removed. Roughly 780,000 cubic yards of material are trapped behind the dam, material that otherwise would move downstream to replenish beaches and surf breaks. (Courtesy California State Parks, 2016).
Leading Landscape-scale Restoration
California Trout (CalTrout), a 50-year-old organization dedicated to healthy waters for fish and people, is driving advocacy, restoration and education on dam removal and floodplain restoration throughout the state. CalTrout led the effort for the recent CESA listing of southern California Steelhead. “Ecosystem recovery is possible if we continue to invest in landscape-scale actions such as dam removal and floodplain restoration,” said CalTrout Executive Director Curtis Knight.
CalTrout’s Dams Out Initiative identifies six key watersheds with dams that should be removed because of their impact on watershed ecosystems and endangered species. The 1930s - 1960s was an era of large-scale hydroelectric dam building across the United States. They are now part of an aging infrastructure. While these dams once provided electricity and flood control, they have today outlived their useful lifespans.
Rindge Dam in Malibu is on this list. Located three miles upstream from the Pacific Ocean in Malibu Creek State Park, the 100-year-old dam is tucked in a canyon between hills recognized in hundreds of films and television series. It was built in 1924 – 26 by Malibu’s Rindge family but filled up with sediment by 1947 and abandoned in 1967. For over a century, this 100-foot-tall concrete wall has been an insurmountable barrier for local wildlife, particularly, the Southern steelhead. Built across Malibu Creek on a summit-to-sea river system, Rindge Dam has also prevented 780,000 cubic yards of natural sediment from flowing downstream to replenish the beaches below.
Figure 3: Legend has it that Clark Gable (pictured) and Spencer Tracy would stop productions and grab their fishing gear when the southern steelhead were running in local rivers. Photo courtesy of Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences Library.
A Multigeneration Environmental Effort
After two decades of studies and stakeholder reviews led by the US Army Corps of Engineers, the Malibu Creek Ecosystem Restoration Project (MCERP) has advanced to the preconstruction, engineering, and design phase for removing Rindge Dam. California State Parks is leading the project with CalTrout managing its public outreach. With support from a team of consultants, surrounding communities, and local Tribes, the blueprint is being developed for removing the dam and the remediation of eight upstream barriers. Once completed, slated for 2035, this transformative landmark project will reconnect the aquatic corridor to improve resiliency and the return of Southern steelhead to a remarkably biodiverse watershed that is largely under public ownership.
As part of the public engagement plan, CalTrout worked with UCLA Extension Landscape Architecture Program 3rd year students to help envision an interpretive site on an historic overlook. The location along Malibu Canyon Road would offer a vantage point to witness the dam removal, learn about native habitat, and discover the cultural history of the Santa Monica Mountains. Ongoing stewardship and public support and education is key to project success in densely populated Los Angeles County.
A community science program to help monitor the restoration of the Malibu Creek watershed is also part of an ongoing public engagement component of the project. Documenting the physical condition of the creek and watershed over time is essential to the restoration effort. The program’s first photo capturing site is up and functioning in Malibu Creek State Park with two more sites planned at strategic locations. Uploaded photos from the locations will help document positive benefits expected downstream over time.
Reconnecting Aquatic Corridors
The other dams in CalTrout’s Dams Out initiative are Matilija Dam on the Ventura River, Searsville Dam on Stanford University’s campus, the Battle Creek dams in Shasta County, the Eel River dams in northwestern California, and the Klamath River dams which are currently being removed. You can learn more about each of these dam removal projects here.
Public and legislative support is essential to restore the ecological function of watershed habitats on which our native fish depend for survival. Earlier this year, Governor Newsom toured a few of CalTrout’s Northern California projects with CalTrout Executive Director Curtis Knight. The tour was in conjunction with his administration's Salmon Strategy announcement to bring back diminishing salmon and steelhead populations. “Ecosystem restoration requires investment in the best available science, planning, collaborative community building, and tribal partnerships,” said Knight. “We don’t have a moment to waste, and this approach, built on partnerships with tribes, agencies, and many others, indicates the right level of urgency to address the crisis our watersheds and their native fish are facing.”
The dams out movement is an exciting, achievable effort in restoration practices and progress toward climate change solutions. Having one of these major river restoration taking place in one of the world’s largest metropolises, Rindge Dam provides an opportunity to demonstrate how we can rebuild river systems anywhere through leadership and collaboration.
To learn more about the Malibu Creek Restoration Project, visit restoremalibucreek.org. To learn more about CalTrout, visit caltrout.org