Up Against the Wall: Steelhead and the Carmel Lagoon Ecosystem Protective Barrier

February 9, 2015

Reeds

The Carmel River Lagoon in 1947 (Laidlaw Williams photo)

There’s been some uproar lately over the plan to build a flood barrier in the Carmel River Lagoon and people have been asking on social media and elsewhere why anyone would propose to place such an assumed-to-be-ugly wall along the northern margin of such a beautiful wetland. A better question may be whether we can find a way to live our lives that doesn’t prevent steelhead from living at all. Either way, it’s a long story… Read the rest of this entry »

10 Comments | Carmel River, Coastal Development/Erosion, Fire, Flood & Apocalypse, History, Politics, Water | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by xasauan

Cal-Am Puts Steelhead and Ratepayers at Risk With Decision to Leave Worthless San Clemente Dam in Place

March 5, 2009

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San Clemente Dam is almost completely filled in with silt and is worthless for water storage – or any other purpose. It is also structurally unsafe and at risk of failure during earthquakes or high flows. This morning (when this picture was taken) the dam was spilling about 1,000 cubic feet per second. On March 10, 1995, the dam survived a 16,000cfs flow that overtopped it completely. Read the rest of this entry »

2 Comments | Carmel River, Water | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by xasauan

Big Rain Coming?

February 14, 2009

So far, we’ve been lucky. We’ve gotten through November, December, January and half of February without a single major storm. The rain has come in such small doses, in fact, that we’ve been wondering whether we shouldn’t be more worried about drought than about the much feared post-fire floods and mudslides. Read the rest of this entry »

1 Comment | Carmel River, Coastal Development/Erosion, Fire, Flood & Apocalypse | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by xasauan