The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) proposes to partially remove Sunol and Niles Dams, which are located in the Niles Canyon reach (between Fremont and the Town of Sunol) of Alameda Creek in Alameda County. The dams would be removed to eliminate barriers to fish passage and to address public safety and risk management concerns.
In 1900, the Spring Valley Water Company (the predecessor to the SFPUC) built Sunol Dam to provide water to San Francisco. The Spring Valley Water Company reportedly constructed Niles Dam in 1887 atop a stone dam. This stone dam was built in 1841 by Jose de Jesus Vallejo, the brother of General Vallejo, who constructed the original Niles Dam to provide water for a flour mill.
Although the Sunol and Niles Dams were once part of the SFPUC’s water system within the Alameda Creek watershed, the dams are no longer in service. Currently, the dams represent barriers to the potential upstream migration of central California coast steelhead, a federally listed threatened species. In addition, the pools created by the dams attract trespassers, which pose a risk management concern for the City and County of San Francisco. For these reasons, the SFPUC proposes their removal. 
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Contact Betsy Lauppe Rhodes at (415) 554-3240 or via email at blauppe@sfwater.org
