Monterey County’s Nacimiento Dam safety program is seriously deficient with an outdated program document, insufficient staff and a long list of outstanding dam safety repairs and maintenance estimated to cost more than $50 million that needs to be addressed in short order.

That’s according to an independent outside audit of the dam safety program conducted by GEI Consultants, Inc. whose findings and recommendations were presented to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. The program is operated by the county Water Resources Agency which is overseen by the county board in its capacity as the agency’s ultimate oversight authority. The audit report itself is not publicly released because it is considered critical energy infrastructure information under Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regulations.