For the City of San Luis Obispo and California Department of Fish and Game
San Luis Obispo, California

The project involved planning and design for removal of a concrete dam on the upper reaches of San Luis Obispo Creek. The 15-foot-high dam, built in the early 1900s as a water supply reservoir, prohibited the upstream migration of steelhead trout to potential spawning and rearing habitat, and completely filled the channel behind the structure with sediment .

Questa coordinated extensively with the City, California Department of Fish and Game, and the National Marine Fisheries Service. A thorough existing riparian habitat analysis was completed to determine the alternative with the lowest environmental impact.  The scope of work included a hydraulic and geomorphic analysis and completion of construction documents for demolition, channel regrading, bank stabilization, and habitat restoration.

The design included removal of the lower half of the dam, construction of 20 rock-lined step pools to facilitate fish passage,  upstream channel sediment removal, and bank stabilization and restoration planting. The project was completed in late 2002.