Plan to Reinforce Dam Raises Concern

Environmentalists and the federal agency seeking to strengthen quake-vulnerable Casitas Dam appear on a collision course over damage the construction would cause to a scenic portion of the lake.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation plans to excavate 130 acres of oak woodland, brush and wetlands to acquire fill dirt to reinforce the dam three miles away. But that work should not proceed until the environmental impacts are examined and alternatives explored, John Buse, an attorney at the Environmental Defense Center office in Ventura, said Monday.

Buse said he seeks commitments that the damage will be offset, erosion reduced and the bureau instead will explore using dirt behind Matilija Dam to reinforce Casitas Dam. Conservationists want defunct Matilija Dam above Ojai removed to promote recovery of steelhead trout. Without those steps, Buse said, he will file a lawsuit on behalf of the California Native Plant Society and Friends of Ventura River to force an environmental impact study of the project.

Meanwhile, the bureau is poised to begin work on Casitas Dam in mid-July. The agency awarded a $21-million contract to a Montana firm last week to do the work, and preliminary earth moving has begun near the dam. Casitas Dam could fail in a major earthquake and threatens 14,000 people living downstream in western Ventura, according to the bureau.