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| Environmentalists vs. Stanford |
Environmental groups say Stanford's Searsville dam blocks vital water flows for native steelhead trout and other species. They have urged the university to remove the 1892 dam and let the area's Corde Madera Creek flow freely again.
A Stanford University task force released a long-awaited proposal on the dam's future last week. The task force's report recommends opening a hole at the base of the dam to let water and fish flow. The school says the best alternative would be letting the dam fill with sediment and providing a fish ladder.
The Stanford report argues the dam's reservoir is now an important wetlands, and says the dam should not be removed."
Related article - The Daily Journal of San Mateo (Associated Press), 5/4/15. "Stanford University wants to keep controversial dam." .... "In a statement, dam opponent Matt Stoecker of Beyond Searsville
Dam called the school’s two proposals “ineffective Band-Aids” and
predicted they would not secure government approval. Stanford, in its own statement, said both alternatives would cost
up to $100 million, and the school would make a priority out of seeking
funding. The school would keep studying the matter to “ensure that we do
the right thing, especially for the communities located downstream of
the dam,” the statement quoted Jean McCown, Stanford’s director of
community relations, as saying. The dam is upstream of
multimillion-dollar homes in tech-industry center Palo Alto, including a
residence of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg."
Related Fix Pacifica reprint article, San Mateo County Times/Aaron Kinney, 1/29/13. "Stanford University sued for alleged Endangered Species Act violations at Searsville Dam."
Note: photograph/graphic from icanhascheezburger.com on Fanpop, "the stupid spot."
Posted by Kathy Meeh
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