California’s largest ever dam removal project gets underway on Carmel River

Nice way to commemorate the start of summer: Crews today began tearing down the crumbling, 10-story-high San Clemente Dam over the Carmel River on the Monterey Peninsula. It’s at risk of collapse in an earthquake, and is so silted with sand and gravel that its reservoir hasn’t been used to supply water since 2002. It’s California’s largest dam removal project ever, but when finished in three years at a cost of $84 million the payoff will be something to cheer: restoration of the river’s natural flow near Carmel. Mercury News writes about it, as does the Chronicle (pay-walled).