San Diego to spend $100M to figure out how to fix its aging, vulnerable dams
San Diego plans to pay an engineering firm $100 million over the next decade to thoroughly evaluate the city’s aging dams and create a strategy to prioritize and coordinate repairs and possible rebuild projects. The strategic plan will include proposals to shore up every dam, including cost estimates and specific timelines. It will also evaluate safety risks and how much each dam upgrade would boost reservoir capacity. … The plan, which city officials call a long-term strategic phasing plan, will also evaluate the accuracy of a loose city estimate that the dams require a total of $1 billion in repairs and upgrades. That $1 billion estimate includes $275 million to build a new replacement for the Hodges Dam about 100 feet downstream from the existing dam. … The city’s greater attention to its dams is part of a statewide trend that began after the near failure in 2017 of Sacramento’s Oroville Dam. San Diego’s dams are among the oldest in the state and the nation, with many nearing or surpassing the end of their useful service lives, officials said.