SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) - Federal officials have begun blowing up old dams in rural Orange County canyons as part of a long-planned project to restore wildlife habitat and eliminate safety hazards in the Santa Ana Mountains.
The Los Angeles Times reports (https://lat.ms/2n8bXVD) crews with the Forest Service and Marine Corps used explosives to begin demolition in Santiago Canyon Tuesday.
More than a dozen residents and environmentalists turned out to protest the project, voicing concerns that it will clog Santiago Creek with debris, kill aquatic wildlife and wipe out popular swimming holes beneath two of the stone-and-mortar dams.
The Forest Service said three dams would be demolished this week and two others would be blasted in the future, to keep the swimming holes intact for the time being.
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Information from: Los Angeles Times, https://www.latimes.com/
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