The San Clemente Dam was 95 percent full of sediment and at risk for failure during an earthquake, which would have sent more than a million tons of sediment and debris hurling toward 1,500 structures— including homes—downstream. When bulldozers crumbled the 94-year-old structure in 2015, it became the largest dam removal project in California history. 

Removing the dam served a dual purpose: to dislodge a seismic hazard and restore the landscape, allowing endangered steelhead, lamprey and endangered red-legged frogs to return.

So far, it’s working. 

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