A rendering of the planned Vail Dam rehabilitation that will protect the Temecula area from potential flooding. Valley News/Courtesy photo
Tim O’LearySpecial to Valley NewsA last remnant of the region’s pioneer past, Vail Dam, is prepping for a $95 million facelift.The project, which has been in the works for ages, is needed to protect the Temecula area from a sudden, catastrophic flood that could be triggered by a shift in the fickle Elsinore fault.“It has to be replaced,” Jake Wiley, a Fallbrook resident who serves as the assistant general manager in charge of engineering for the Rancho California Water District, said. “It has been deemed a potential hazard.”Rancho serves a 100,000-acre area that is home to more than 150,000 people and encompasses Temecula and parts of Murrieta, French Valley, the Santa Rosa Plateau and the wine country.Chunks of Rancho’s jurisdiction were last flooded
