The 106-foot-high, sediment-filled San Clemente Dam on the Carmel River will be torn down in August. Federal, state and local officials said the largest dam removal in California's history will be a crucial environmental restoration project that could serve as a precedent for other dams in the U.S. Every big dam removal project poses a large-scale environmental experiment, California State University Monterey Bay professor Doug Smith said. Carmel River's dam is especially worthy of study because removal crews are using a new technique designed to keep all the trapped sediment in place, he said. Luckily, CSUMB graduate student Sheldon Leiker and undergraduate August Delforge don't mind getting their hands dirty and their feet wet in the name of environmental science. – KSBW, July 25, 2013