Matilija Falls, just one of the scenic wonders of Matilija Canyon, upstream from the dam.
What’s next once Matilija Dam is gone?
Major stakeholders working toward dam removal will be seeking input on that question during a public workshop set for Thursday, Feb. 23, from 4 to 6 p.m. at Chaparral Auditorium, 414 E. Ojai Ave.
The “Seek the Creek” workshop, hosted by Ojai Valley Land Conservancy, is part of a community visioning process to determine what the public wants to see on the 400 county-owned acres upstream from the dam.
The workshop is being held in support of the county of Ventura’s scoping process for the future removal of the dam and restoration of Matilija Canyon.
The Matilija Dam Ecosystem Restoration Project is more than just taking down the dam, according to Ventura County Supervisor Matt LaVere. “It’s bringing the watershed up there back to what it was before the dam; bringing it back to its glory,” he said.
Benefits of the project go beyond habitat restoration, LaVere said, and include improving the Robles diversion facility (bringing more water to Lake Casitas), improving water quality, creating an environment to strengthen the southern steelhead population, and making flood improvements downstream.
The project will return Matilija Creek to its original flow, providing much-needed open space for the public to enjoy. “There are so many opportunities for public recreation,” LaVere said.
For nearly three decades, a coalition of groups working in partnership with the Ventura County Public Works Agency has been leading the effort to remove the dam built in 1947 and rendered obsolete by sedimentation.
To gather public feedback on habitat restoration, OVLC obtained funding from a private organization, the Resource Legacy Fund, to hire a landscape architecture firm to conduct outreach and find out what people want.
The goal of the workshop is a more holistic view of what the public wants to see in Matilija Canyon. “We need an affirmative vision of what it is we’re striving to create. The public is tired of hearing about the removal and hearing about the bureaucracy that precludes removal,” said OVLC Executive Director Tom Maloney. “Forget all that.”
A key question is how to appropriately honor the Chumash, Maloney said, “to get their perspectives of how significant that site was.”
Though dam removal could still be a decade away, MDERP has gained significant traction of late, due in large part to LaVere’s leadership at the county level, Maloney said.
“We’ve made more progress in the last five years than we made in the 25 years prior,” agreed LaVere. “We’re at that confluence now where we have great ideas and there’s money available, and we have to strike when the iron’s hot.”
The completion in October of the new Santa Ana Boulevard Bridge, one of several infrastructure improvements that need to be completed prior to dam removal, showed that progress is being made, LaVere said.
The next three years will be critical, coming up with a comprehensive vision for a restored Matilija Canyon. “What are we going to end up with and what do we want to strive for?” said Maloney.
The vision for the new open space could include amenities such as hiking trails, parks and an interpretive center.
“The possibilities are unlimited,” said LaVere. “The big question is ‘what’s next?’”
The workshops are aimed at answering that question. “The challenge is figuring out how to start tying things together,” Maloney said. “How do you string this string of pearls together in a way that’s got some coherence?”
Along with stakeholders to discuss possibilities and answer questions, poster boards with timelines and schematics will be available for public viewing, Maloney said.
The Feb. 23 workshop will be one of three public meetings, including one in Ventura and another focused on the Latino community. Dates and locations for the other two workshops have yet to be announced.
