California’s largest dam removal project ever will take advantage of the area’s unique topography to allow builders to permanently divert the Carmel River into a new channel.
Built in 1921 about 18.5 miles upstream of the Pacific Ocean in Monterey County, the 106-ft-tall San Clemente Dam has filled with 2.5 million cubic yards of sediment, and is at risk of failure during an earthquake or probable maximum flood (PMF).