Ramona

Federal environmental officials on Friday urged the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to reconsider its decision to issue a permit for Pamo Dam, the controversial water project in Ramona.

In a letter to John Doyle, the acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works in Washington, a top Environmental Protection Agency official cited significant losses of wetland habitat, potential violations of the Endangered Species Act and the presence of less environmentally damaging alternatives as reasons why the dam should not be built.

“Not only would this project destroy a very significant natural resource . . . but also it appears that these impacts are avoidable without risking the legitimate need for an emergency water supply for the people of San Diego County,” wrote Judith E. Ayres, EPA’s regional administrator in San Francisco.

Under an interagency agreement, the Department of the Army now has until Aug. 28 to respond to the EPA’s request. If Doyle decides to proceed with the issuance of the permit, the EPA may then override that action under the Clean Water Act.

The two agencies have locked horns over the permit since April, when the Corps of Engineers approved the $86-million project that the San Diego County Water Authority has fought for years to build. Corps officials concluded that the environmental costs of Pamo Dam would be outweighed by its benefits to San Diego.

The EPA, meanwhile, believes a sufficient emergency water supply could be created by raising the existing San Vicente Dam or tapping groundwater sources. EPA officials protest that a program to compensate for wetlands destroyed by the project is inadequate.

The controversial project would consist of a 264-foot-high concrete dam across Santa Ysabel Creek and would flood Pamo Valley, which contains rare streamside habitat and is home to a wide variety of wildlife. Voters approved bonds for the dam in 1984, but it is bitterly opposed by environmentalists.