CALIFORNIA SPORTFISHING PROTECTION ALLIANCE
P.O. BOX 357
QUINCY, CA 95971

Mr. Mark D'Avignon January 25, 1999
Regulatory Branch
San Francisco District
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
333 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94105-2197

Re: In the Matter of Public Notice 23303S; San Clemente Dam Seismic
Retrofit; Carmel River; Comments by California Sportfishing Protection
Alliance

Dear Mr. Mark D'Avignon:

This matter concerns a useless dam on a public waterway which provides
no beneficial uses but to save money for the dam owner not to have it
removed.

This matter also concerns the Carmel River threatened steelhead and
their habitat, a federally listed species, which have been adversely
impacted by the operation of water diversions by the same dam owner.

This matter also concerns whether the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will
make a proper and just decision about protecting water quality of the
Carmel River.

This matter also concerns the provisions of the federal Endangered
Species Act and the provisions of the federal Clean Water Act, and
whether the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will comply with the provisions
of federal law to protect the Carmel River steelhead and water quality.

This matter also concerns whether the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
really believes that a dam owner can trash its useless dam and
accumulated sediment in a public waterway and claim that it is in the
public interest and will not have any effects to the human environment.

This matter also concerns whether the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will
prepare a NEPA document for the proposed project with full public review
and comment.

The people of the State of California own the public trust resources of
the Carmel River. The people of the State of California also own the
waters of the Carmel River. Water is also a public trust resource. The
public trust resources of the Carmel River are public trust assets. The
CSPA believes that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers does not have the
discretion to damage public trust assets to satisfy the desires of a dam
owner.

The San Clemente Dam is proposed by the California American Water
Company (Cal-Am) to be modified with new sluice gates, spillway lip,
fish ladder attraction improvements in the outfall pool, full-face
concrete buttressing including 3,200 cubic yards of fill, and is
proposed to be operated at a different pool evaluation and instream flow
regime.

The existing fish ladder does not meet current standards and will
require full remediation. The San Clemente Dam has trapped two (2)
million cubic yards of sediment and represents a serious threat to water
quality and the public trust steelhead species and their habitat,
including other public trust fish and aquatic species in the Carmel
River below the dam to the Pacific Ocean.

The proposed project and the related direct, indirect, and cumulative
environmental impacts to the environment of the Carmel River have not
been adequately disclosed, evaluated, and mitigated in any federal
environmental document prepared by the U.S. Corps of Engineers. The U.S.
Corps of Engineers has a duty and responsibility to comply with the
provisions and requirements of NEPA.

San Clemente Dam is a partial barrier to the migration of threatened
Carmel steelhead trout. Two million cubic yards of sediment sits in the
Carmel River channel occupying habitat once utilized by Carmel River
steelhead and other aquatic resources during the pre-project period.
Carmel River steelhead were listed as threatened and are protected by
the provisions of the federal Endangered Species Act. San Clemente Dam
also prevents the downstream recruitment of valuable gravel that is
needed in the river for the steelhead and the aquatic environment below
the useless dam.

San Clemente Reservoir is filled with two (2) million cubic yards of
sediment and has no purpose of its original design. The dam owner simply
wants to trash the dam and reservoir, manage and sluice the sediment,
and place the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the position of
significant liability to the public who own the public trust resources
of the Carmel River. The proposed new purpose is to manage sediment
(sluice the sediment) and divert water. Water can be diverted without
the use of the silted obsolete reservoir.

However, large amounts of sediment should not be sluiced down the river
and approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers which likely would
damage and adversely effects water quality and steelhead habitat in the
Carmel River in violation of the provisions of the federal Clean Water
Act. San Clemente Dam and Reservoir is old (1921) and obsolete with no
public beneficial uses, with a limited future life span. We believe the
sluicing of large amounts of sediment from the reservoir into the Carmel
River by the dam owner would be a violation of the provisions of the
federal Clean Water Act, and would also adversely effect public trust
threatened steelhead and their habitat, including other public trust
fish and aquatic resources in the Carmel River. We believe the project
owner (Cal-Am), and not the water users it serves, is fully liable for
removing the structure and rehabilitating the channel of the Carmel
River in the project area. That would be reasonable and in the public
interest.

There have been adverse direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts to the
Carmel River threatened steelhead and their habitat from existing water
development projects in the Carmel River watershed, which includes the
San Clemente Dam. For this reason the Carmel River steelhead were listed
as threatened. There is also a proposed new dam and reservoir named the
Carmel River Dam and Reservoir Project which will to be a barrier to
Carmel River threatened steelhead who migrate into the upper Carmel
River for spawning and rearing purposes.

The Carmel River watershed sustains California red-legged frogs.
California red-legged frogs are a federally listed species and are
protected by the provisions of the federal Endangered Species Act. The
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a duty and responsibility to protect
California red-legged frogs in the Carmel River watershed.

NEPA requires that cumulative impacts are disclosed and evaluated.
According to the Council on Environmental Quality's Regulations for
implementing NEPA (Section 1508.7), an action may cause cumulative
impacts on the environment if its impacts overlap in space and/or time
with the impacts of other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable
future actions. Cumulative effects can result from individually minor
but collectively significant actions taking place over a period of time.

Water development in the Carmel River watershed has been very
controversial over the past several years or more. Cal-Am is proposing
to construct the Carmel River Dam and Reservoir Project. Cal-Am is also
proposing to retrofit the San Clemente Dam and walk away from its duty
to remove the obsolete dam. Cal-Am has also made the unauthorized
diversion and use of Carmel River water (state's water). There are also
numerous other water diversions in the Carmel River watershed. Carmel
River steelhead have also been listed as threatened because of the
management and use of water in the Carmel River watershed. California
red-legged frogs have also be listed for protection under the federal
Endangered Species Act. The California State Water Resources Control
Board has also held water right hearings concerning the use and
management of water in the Carmel River watershed. For these cumulative
reasons, the U.S. Army Corps should prepare an EIS or at least an EA for
the proposed project because of the obvious cumulative impacts to the
human environment.

NEPA also requires that a range of alternatives are disclosed and
evaluated. The removal of the San Clemente Dam and Reservoir is one of
the most reasonable alternatives which should be disclosed and evaluated
in a NEPA document for the subject obsolete dam and reservoir. We
reference Section 1506.1(a)(2) 40 CFR Section 1500 et seq.

Also, another obvious alternative would be to notch the dam down piece
by piece and allowing small amounts of sediment to migrate to the
Pacific Ocean during high winter or spring flow periods.

The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service is mandated by federal law
to protect threatened Carmel River steelhead and their habitat. The U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service is also mandated by federal law to protect
California red-legged frogs. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is
mandated by federal law to comply with the provisions of the federal
Endangered Species Act to protect and prevent jeopardy to threatened
Carmel River Steelhead and their habitat, and also California red-legged
frogs. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is also mandated by federal law
to comply with the provisions of the federal Clean Water Act to protect
water quality in the Carmel River watershed.

It is my understanding that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is
seriously considering exempting the proposed project from the
requirements of NEPA. It is my further understanding that the USNMFS has
recommended a NEPA document to be prepared, and that the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineer seriously consider the removal of the dam in that document.

We recommend and urge the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to comply to the
provisions of NEPA and prepare a EIS or an EA for the proposed project.
A good start would be the preparation of an EA and then decide whether
the public, who own the public trust resources, and the environmental
conditions and evidence in the EA supports an EIS.

We recommend and urge the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to comply to the
provisions of the federal Endangered Species Act and cooperate with the
USNMFS and remove the San Clemente Dam and Reservoir, including the
sediment within the reservoir.

We recommend and urge the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to comply to the
provisions of the federal Clean Water Act and remove the San Clemente
Dam and Reservoir, including the sediment within the reservoir, to
protect water quality, Carmel River threatened steelhead in the Carmel
River. and other public trust resources which are the property of the
people.

For any member of the public to trash an old auto along a public
highway or within a federal land area is unreasonable and against state
and federal law. The dam owner in this case should be treated equally as
though the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was dealing with a member of the
public. It is simply unreasonable and unfair for any dam owner to trash
an old obsolete dam and allow it to remain in the channel of the Carmel
River, a public waterway, with the blessing of the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers.

We find it hard to believe that the COE would even consider
retrofitting an obslete dam when in fact it should be removed.

Place the CSPA on the mailing list for all matters pertaining to this
matter and other matters in the Carmel River watershed. Also, place the
CSPA on the mailing list for all COE permitting activities in the San
Francisco District area.

A written response is appreciated and requested.

If there are any further questions, please contact Bob Baiocchi,
Consultant, for the CSPA at 530-836-1115.

Respectfully Submitted

___________________________________________
Robert J. Baiocchi, Consultant
For: California Sportfishing Protection Alliance
P.O. Box 357
Quincy, CA 95971
Bus Tel: 530-836-1115; Fax: 530-836-2062

Service List

Honorable U.S. Congressman Sam Farr
380 Aluarado
Monterey, CA 93940

Ms. Mary Nichols, Secretary
The California Resources Agency
1416 Ninth Street
Sacramento, CA 95814

Mr. Walt Pettit, Executive Director
California State Water Resources Control Board
P.O. Box 2000
Sacramento, CA 95812-2000

Dr. William T. Hogarth, Ph.D
Regional Administrator
U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service
501 West Ocean Boulevard, Suite 4200
Long Beach, CA 90802-4213

Mr. Wayne White, State Supervisor
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
3310 El Camino Avenue, Suite 130
Sacramento, CA 95821-6340

Mr. Jim Bybee, Supervisor
Mr. David Arthaud, Fisheries Biologist
U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service
777 Sonoma Avenue
Santa Rosa, CA 95404

Ms. Diane Noda, Field Supervisor
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office
2493 Portola Road, Suite B
Ventura, CA 93003

Director of the California Department of Fish and Game
c/o Mr. Dennis McEwan, Fishery Biologist
Inland Fisheries Division
Department of Fish and Game
1416 Ninth Street
Sacramento, CA 95814

Mr. Steve Herrera, Supervisor, Environmental Unit
Division of Water Rights
P.O. Box 2000
Sacramento, CA 95812-2000

Dr. Roy Thomas
Carmel River Steelhead Association
California Sportfishing Protection Alliance
26535 Carmel Rancho Blvd.
Carmel, CA 93923

Mr. Jim Crenshaw, President
California Sportfishing Protection Alliance
1248 East Oak Avenue, Suite D
Woodland, CA 95695

Mr. Michael R. Sherwood, Esquire
Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund
180 Montgomery Street, Suite 1725
San Francisco, CA 94104-4209

Mr. Brian Trautwein
Environmental Defense Center
906 Garden Street, Suite 2
Santa Barbara, CA 93101

Mr. Ed Henke, Historical Research
769 Lisa Lane
Ashland, Oregon 97520

Interested Parties (numerous by e-mail)