Carlsbad commission postpones Lake Calavera dam-repair decision

By: BARBARA HENRY - Staff Writer | Thursday, April 21, 2005 12:11 AM PDT ∞

CARLSBAD ---- The plugs that keep water from draining out of Lake Calavera will remain in place for at least another year.

In a 6-0 vote, the Carlsbad Planning Commission agreed Wednesday to indefinitely postpone a decision on a dam-repair project that would have required temporarily draining much of the lake's water.

"Over the last couple days, the staff has received a large number of comments (against the idea)," Assistant Planning Director Don Neu said as he announced the staff's sudden request to delay the decision.

Commission Chairman Jeff Segall then apologized to the some 60 people who had come to Wednesday's meeting, saying he was sorry they couldn't be notified sooner of the delay. After the announcement, opponents celebrated outside the meeting room and vowed to return when the project reappears before the commission.

When that will be is in debate because it's going to take time to respond to the issues that opponents raised in their letters, said city Senior Planner Mike Grim. It isn't the number of letters the city received, but their size and content, he said, adding that some are 10 to 15 pages long. One comes from the University of San Diego's Environmental Law Clinic.

"Some of the stuff we're hearing is a repeat of what we've heard, but some of it is new," Grim said as he discussed the project, which has been years in the making.

Essentially, Wednesday's decision means that there's no chance of the repair work happening this summer as proposed, he said. And, if work can't start this summer, then it will have to wait at least another year.

Plans have called for draining 77 million gallons from the lake over several weeks during the summer, then allowing the lake to refill naturally with winter rains. Before the lake refills, the contractors would replace the valves and do other work on the dam area. The valves haven't functioned properly since the late 1990s, and city officials say they have to do something about the problem because they're not in compliance with state dam regulations.

Calavera area residents and environmentalists who have fought the plan say the city is going about the project in the wrong manner. They want Carlsbad to consider using divers to do the job or building a small "coffer" dam around the work area.

"Absolutely, the dam needs to be repaired, but, as we have said, it needs to be done in a different way," said Diane Nygaard, a leader of the environmental group Preserve Calavera, which works on issues related to the Mount Calavera region.

In order for the project to proceed, the Planning Commission would need to approve a habitat management permit because of the project's impacts to a 0.78-acre area of native coastal habitat. The project also will require a conditional-use permit because the city plans to build a small dam-control building next to the lake.

Contact staff writer Barbara Henry at (760) 901-4072 or bhenry@nctimes.com.

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