Searsville Dam Removal: Restoration Opportunity for the San Francisco Bay

Owned by Stanford University and located within their Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, Searsville Dam was completed in 1892 and occurs in the San Francisquito Creek watershed. The concrete dam measures approximately 65 feet in height and 275 feet in length. Fish passage facilities were never built for the historic salmon and steelhead runs to reach spawning and rearing habitat upstream. There are no dedicated bypass flows for downstream habitat and listed wildlife. Approximately 1.5 million cubic yards of sediment have accumulated behind the dam, reducing the original storage capacity by approximately 90%. Currently, the dam provides no electricity, potable water, or flood protection benefits.

Searsville Dam causes several negative impacts to one of the last wild runs of threatened steelhead trout in San Francisco Bay, including but not limited to: blocking access to miles of former spawning and rearing habitat, reducing downstream spawning gravels and habitat complexity, reducing downstream flows and water quality, and harboring non-native predatory species that compete with and prey upon native wildlife while spreading to downstream habitats. Dam removal could allow for the recovery of steelhead to almost 20 miles of historic habitat upstream in the creeks flowing through Woodside and Portola Valley, restore the submerged valley and riparian habitats of five creeks, reestablish historic wetland ponds currently submerged, eliminate non-native fish and frog species that occur in Searsville Reservoir, and eliminate the safety liability and costs of maintaining this over-a-century old structure adjacent to the San Andreas Fault. In addition, S.F. Bay wetland restoration projects have a need for “clean and local” sediment that could be provided with Searsville Dam removal and natural sediment transport needed to help replenish and protect Bay wetlands in the face of sea-level rise would be restored offering a unique opportunity to preserve Bay wetlands into the future.

Across the country, dams that have outlived their usefulness are being removed to restore ecosystem health, reduce safety risks, comply with environmental regulations, save money, and revitalize communities. Searsville Dam offers a unique watershed and San Francisco Bay wetland restoration opportunity.

The Beyond Searsville Dam Coalition is an alliance of thousands of supporters, advocates, environmental groups, resource agencies, and private companies advocating for restoration of native habitat and species, a free flowing San Francisquito Creek, and revived San Francisco Bay ecosystem through removal of Searsville Dam in a safe manner that is consistent with protecting creekside communities and our regional ecosystem.