Though Camanche survived through the decades, few residents were left by the time the town was emptied so that the East Bay Municipal Utility District could build a dam and reservoir in the early 1960s. The town of Camanche was thus submerged. The local news paper in 1964 carried news that " Camanche will inundate many memories", and it stated that the $35 million Dam is vital to the East Bay Municipal utility District's $283 million water project.