Ken Quoted

Ken was quoted in a recent article that appeared in several sister newspapers. It's a good article with great pictures online.

Whittier Daily News - San Gabriel Dam Being Cleaned up
By Ben Baeder - Staff Writer

Quotes:
>>The dredging is needed to clear the area behind the dam that filled up with dirt after the Curve and Williams Fires of 2002, said Public Works spokesman Ken Pellman.

Without plant roots to hold it down, mud flowed down hillsides into the river and collected behind the dam, Pellman said.
[snip]
"The contract calls for the removal of 5 million cubic yards of dirt," Pellman said. The sediment-removal project kicks into high gear each spring when the storms stop and the San Gabriel River's waters subside, he said.

"Each year, before we release water, we have to give everything that collected behind the dam a little time to settle," he said. "Waiting for the settling keeps us from gumming up our system and it makes it so we let cleaner water go down stream."

The released water is siphoned into spreading grounds along the San Gabriel River near Pico Rivera, where it percolates into wells and is pumped up for use, he said.

The money for the dredging came from funds designated for flood control and water conservation, Pellman said.<<