Located in the San Francisquito Creek watershed in Portola Valley, Searsville Dam blocks fish and sediment passage between the watershed and San Francisco Bay, harming threatened Central California Coast steelhead trout populations and reducing sediment needed to protect the San Francisco Bay shoreline from sea level rise.

The US Army Corps of Engineers and the CA Department of Water Resources are taking public comments on the proposed modification of Searsville Dam owned by Stanford University in Portola Valley, CA. We need your help to push for full dam removal, better flood protection, and sustainable water solutions.

For over two decades, Beyond Searsville Dam, CalTrout, and coalition partners have advocated for an alternative to the antiquated and damaging Searsville Dam. Evidence developed during multi-party collaborative efforts, such as the Searsville Advisory Group and the Searsville Community Working Group, demonstrated that there are feasible—in fact, preferable—alternatives to the current proposed project to modify the dam into a flood control dam, while building another new dam and expanding diversions from the threatened creek. Beyond Searsville Dam, CalTrout, and coalition partners are committed to actions that evaluate and consider removal of Stanford University’s Searsville Dam in a manner that is beneficial to protecting creek side communities, watershed health, aquatic species, and the San Francisco Bay. As an alternative in the forthcoming Environmental Impact Report (EIR)/Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) public review process, CalTrout and Beyond Searsville Dam strongly support and request a full exploration of removal of Searsville Dam and restoration of a safer San Francisquito Creek watershed. We support the further exploration of more progressive water and flood reduction alternatives as part of the dam removal alternative including groundwater recharge, water well transfer, water conservation, recycling, and reuse.

We need you to submit a public comment on the Notice of Preparation asking for full dam removal to Ted Frink with the CA Department of Water Resources. Deadline for public comment is Friday, April 7th.

We encourage you to join CalTrout in advocating for full dam removal and to share your personal comments and stories about why you wish to protect Bay Area steelhead populations, the San Francisquito Creek watershed, and the San Francisco Bay. Any comment helps! Please share this action with your network.