San Diego has unveiled its long-awaited plan to prevent a major flood at Lake Hodges Dam: spend $30 million to $50 million to structurally shrink the unsound dam by lowering its spillway from 315 feet to 280 feet. The proposed project, which will take an estimated seven years to complete, is unpopular with civic groups near the 108-year-old dam, who prefer a higher water level for recreational and wildfire-prevention reasons. City officials say the seven-year project is considered an “interim solution” and that they are still pursuing a nearby replacement dam that might start being built shortly after the existing dam’s spillway is lowered. Civic groups, including Friends of Lake Hodges, are questioning the financial sensibility of pursuing the interim spillway-lowering project when a long-term solution might be built so quickly afterward.